/O.Z.5~.ZO, 

LIBRARY  OF  THE  THEOLOGICAL  SEWIIWARY 

PRINCETON,  N.  J. 

Presented  by 

■BX  9225  .L23  W54  1920    ^^^ 
Wilson,  Samuel  Tyndale,  185, 

Thomas  Jefferson  Lamar 


^" 


Professor  Thomas  Jefferson  Lamar 


.<0^^^^'^^ 


OCT  25  1920 


©IjomaB  KpflTfrfion  IHamar 


A  Mtmtitxul  ^k^trlf 
S^ntnml  (BtjnhuU  Wilatin 


,  MttttitJille,  tcnnw^w 
1020 


DEDICATED  TO 

MARYVIIvLE  COLLEGE 

THE    MOST   ENDURING    MONUMENT 
OF 

THOMAS  JEFFERSON  LAMAR 

BY    HIS    WIDOW 


CONTENTS 

Chapter  Page 
I.  The  Boy  and  His  Lineage.  An  Unrecorded  Life — 
But  Worthy  of  Record — French  Forbears — Ameri- 
can Blending — Bast  Tennessee  Nativity — A  Farmer's 
Homestead — The  Father — The  Mother — A  Patri- 
archal Family — Thomas  Jefferson — Boyhood  Days — 
Grandmother  Lamar — Beyond  the  Mississippi — An 
Exile  from  Home — Elder  Meek,  Foster-Father 7 

II.  The  Student  and  His  Teachers.  The  Old-Time 
Article  School — Holston  Academy — Orientation  of 
Life — A  Momentous  Matriculation — Modest  Mary- 
ville — Mighty  Maryville — The  Professors — A  Room 
in  the  Seminary — Winning  His  Way — Literary  So- 
ciety— Four  Influential  Years — Graduation   15 

III.  The  Theologue  and  His  Training.    Call  to  the  Min- 

istry— Maryville's  Theological  Department — Dr.  An- 
derson's Methods  of  Teaching — Dr.  Anderson's  Per- 
sonality— Transfer  to  Union  Seminary — The  Union 
Faculty — The  Seminary  "Boy^" — The  City  of  New 
York — A  Seminary  Graduate  24 

IV.  The  Minister  and  His  Ministry.    Licensure  to  the 

Ministry — Ministry  at  Weston,  Missouri — And  at 
Savannah,  Missouri — Back  to  Tennessee — Blount 
County  Churches — War-Time  Ministry — After-War 
Church  Reorganization — Stated  Clerkship  of  Synod — 
Earnest  Preacher — Sage  Counselor — Missions  His 
Great  Commission  31 

V.  The  Teacher  and  His  Teaching.  Predilection  for 
Teaching — A  Professorship  at  Maryville — This  An- 
other Momentous  Event — "Professor  Lamar" — Try- 
ing Days — Better  Days  Coming — The  New  Pro- 
fessor's Scholarship — Patience  in  Class-Room  Drill — 
Kindliness  in  Discipline — Sympathetic  Heart — Fruit- 
ful Pedagogy  38 

VI.  A  Christian  Statesman.  The  Teacher  Also  a  States- 
man— Higher  Christian-  Education — Extension  of 
Maryville's   Contribution   to   It — Its   Clientage   In- 


Chapter  Page 

creased — The  "South  Hills"  Expansion  Planned — 
But  War  Engulfs  Everything — Everything!  Every- 
thing!— Yet  Unwavering  in  Purpose — Only  Await- 
ing an  Opportunity — Planning  and  Praying — Peace 

and  Work  Again 45 

VII.  A  College  Builder.  Facing  a  Scrap  Heap— What 
Synod  Did — A  Winter  of  Torture — Year  One  of  the 
New  College — The  Salutatory — A  Good  Beginning — 
Finding  Colleagues — The  Motives  He  Urged — Win- 
ning Friends  and  Donors — Jehovah-jireh!  A  New 
Campus — And  Four  New  Buildings — But  Unremit- 
ting Toil  and  Cares — For  Fourteen  Long  Years — 
Success!  Two  Hundred  Students! — But  Anxiety, 
Deiicit,  and  Debt 51 

VIII.  An  Endowment  Founder.  Endowment  or  Collapse! — 
Enlistment  for  the  Forlorn  Hope — The  Task  an 
Impossible  One — The  Means,  a  Modest  Man — The 
Dynamics,  Faith  in  God — A  Three  Years'  Struggle — 
The  Cost  of  the  Campaign — Nothing  Impossible 
zvith  God — His  Helpers — The  Donors — The  Day 
of  Victory — Hallelujah! — The  Supreme  Sacrifice — 

Post-Mortem  Endowment  Building  63 

IX.  A  Home-Loving  Man.  His  College  Home — His  Mis- 
souri Home — His  Savannah  Providence — A  Home  of 
His  Oivn — Little  Katie — The  Home  Broken  Up — A 
Loving  Nature — "Uncle  Tommie" — A  Home  Again — 
Mrs.  Lamar's  Father — Mrs.  Lamar's  Mother — Mrs. 
Lamar's  Brothers — The  Wedding  Tour — The  Ad- 
vent of  Little  Ralph  Max— The  Stay  of  Ralph 
Max —  The  Departure  of  Ralph  Max — Partnership 
in  Sorrow — The  Last   Home-Coming — His    Wife's 

Devotion   73 

X.  A  Typical  MaryvillE  Man.  A  Builder  of  Maryville 
Men — An  Embodiment  of  the  Maryville  Spirit — 
In  "Breadth  of  Human  Interest" — In  "Thorough 
Scholarship"— In  "Manly  Religion" — And  in  "Un- 
selfish Service" — A  Gentle  Man— A  Man  of  God— 
A  Friend  of  Men— Honored  of  Men — Honored  of 
Heaven ^^ 85 


CHAPTER  I 
The  Boy  and  His  Lineage 

Thirty-three  years  have  elapsed  since  Professor 
Thomas  Jefferson  Lamar  rested  from  his  labors,  and  yet 
his  memory  stays  fresh  in  the  hearts  of  those  who  were 
associated  with  him  in  those  labors.  This  biographical 
sketch  is  prepared  by  his  friends,  to  express  it  as  the 
inscription  that  is  found  on  the  monument  erected  to  the 
memory  of  Dr.  Isaac  Anderson  puts  it,  "not  because  they 
fear  they  will  forget,  but  because  they  love  to  remember 
him"  who  was  once  their  companion;  and  also  because 
they  would  have  others  know  more  about  the  memorable 
qualities  and  services  of  their  departed  friend. 

An  Unrecorded  Life.  To  an  extent  seldom  noted 
in  any  public  man,  the  subject  of  this  sketch  avoided 
both  in  speech  and  in  writing  all  references  to  his  per- 
sonal history.  He  wrote  no  diaries,  made  no  genealogical 
researches,  and  left  practically  no  personal  memoranda 
that  would  be  of  service  in  the  preparation  of  such  a 
story  as  is  here  attempted.  Much  he  did  speak  and  write 
regarding  the  causes  that  enlisted  his  heart's  devotion ;  but 
with  utter  self-effacement  and  the  most  sincere  humility, 
he  always  kept  himself  in  the  background.  He  never 
sought  or  took  pleasure  in  prominence.    Had  it  not  been 


8  Thomas  Jki^ferson  Lamar 

for  the  fact  that  others  felt  that  it  was  due  the  causes 
he  represented  that  his  memory  should  not  perish,  and 
for  the  additional  fact  that  the  memories  of  friends  could 
supply  some  of  the  data  that  he  failed  to  record,  his  story 
would  never  have  been  told. 

But  Worthy  of  Record.  In  "A  Century  of  Mary- 
ville  College,"  Professor  Lamar's  services  to  the  College 
were  somewhat  fully  recounted  and  dwelt  upon.  But  this 
fact  has  only  made  his  friends  the  more  anxious  to  save 
from  oblivion  the  complete  story  of  a  life  that  was  so 
worthy  of  commemoration  and  imitation.  The  writer, 
first  a  student  and  then  a  colleague  of  Professor  Lamar, 
has  deemed  it  at  once  a  pleasure  and  a  duty  to  collabo- 
rate with  Mrs.  Lamar,  the  widow  of  the  professor,  in  the 
preparation  of  this  brief  biography.  Like  Old  Mortality, 
he,  would  chisel  away  the  moss  and  lichens  that  are  grow- 
ing over  a  beloved  name,  and  would  seek  to  deepen  the 
impression  that  that  name  has  made  in  men's  memories- 
French  Forbears.  Thomas  Jefferson  Lamar's  pater- 
nal grandfather  emigrated  from  France  to  the  United 
States  late  in  the  eighteenth  century.  It  is  believed  that 
he  was  a  representative  of  that  most  worthy  people,  the 
French  Huguenots,  the  expulsion  of  many  of  whom  as 
the  result  of  the  Revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes,  and 
the  loss  of  many  of  whom  in  the  natural  course  of  emi- 
gration, proved  the  most  serious  blow  that  France  ever 
sustained.  It  is  also  believed  that  his  grandfather  left 
France  on  account  of  the  political  troubles  that  not  much 
later  came  to  a  head  in  the  French  Revolution.  Even 
his  son  showed  his  interest  in  French  history  by  naming 
three  of  his  sons  after  Frenchmen  of  recent  renown — 


The;  Boy  and  His  Lineage  9 

Napoleon  Bonaparte,  Jerome,  and  Lafayette.  This  was 
in  keeping  with  what  the  Lamars  did  in  other  parts  of 
our  country;  for  example,  General  Lamar,  the  third 
president  of  Texas,  bore  the  name  of  Mirabeau;  while 
the  Lamar  county  people  of  Texas  named  their  county 
seat  Paris.  The  Lamars  of  Mississippi,  however,  went 
even  farther  back  when  both  father  and  son  were  named 
Lucius  Quintus  Cincinnatus  Lamar. 

American  Blending.  The  father  of  our  Professor 
Lamar  was  William  Lamar.  He  married  Rebecca  Hodges. 
The  Hodges  are  said  to  have  been  of  German  or  Dutch 
descent.  Thus,  in  accordance  with  the  rule  rather  than 
the  exception  in  American  family  life,  the  heads  of  the 
family  represented  European  races  very  different  in  their 
historic  careers  and  racial  characteristics.  The  Melting 
Pot  began  operation  soon  after  the  first  settlements  were 
made;  and  nowhere  did  it  operate  with  more  ease  and 
with  less  delay  than  on  the  Southwestern  frontier.  Here 
men  entered  as  foreigners,  and  in  a  few  short  years  were 
amalgamated  into  the  purest  Americanism. 

East  Tennessee  Nativity.  Nowhere  on  the  frontier 
was  this  blending  more  quickly  and  effectively  accom- 
plished than  in  the  great  glen  or  cove  or  valley  of  East 
Tennessee.  The  encircling  mountains  shut  out  all  foreign 
influences  and  at  the  same  time  shut  in  all  the  native 
American  influences,  and  gave  them  free  scope.  So  it 
was  no  wonder  that  Thomas  Jefferson  Lamar,  born  and 
brought  up  in  the  valley  of  East  Tennessee,  where  his 
parents  also  had  been  both  born  and  reared,  should  have 
been  so  completely  an  American  that  not  only  was  the 
French  tongue  of  his  grandfather  entirely  forgotten,  but 


lo  Thomas  Jefferson  Lamar 

so  were  all  foreign  ideals  that  he  brought  with  him  across 
the  sea.  Thomas  Jefferson  Lamar  was  an  American  to 
the  manor  born.  The  De  la  Mar  had  been  anglicized 
into  plain  Lamar:  and  Thomas  Jefferson,  the  name  of  a 
Virginia  commoner,  had  been  prefixed  to  it.  And  his 
schoolmates  called  him  just  plain,  "Tom  Lamar."  He 
was  a  full-fledged  American. 

A  Farmer's  Homestead.  The  purest  and  most  un- 
adulterated Americanism  is  found  in  the  homes  of  the 
farmers  of  our  country.  Thomas  Lamar  was  born  in  a 
farmhouse,  and  spent  his  boyhood  on  a  farm.  There  he 
secured  at  first  hand,  from  a  farmer  father,  and  from 
his  mother,  a  farmer's  daughter,  insight  and  indoctri- 
nation into  the  simplest  and  most  loyal  Americanism  as  it 
is  developed  in  the  rural  home  and  in  a  farmer's  family. 
The  Lamar  farm  was  located  near  what  is  now  Hodges, 
nearly  four  miles  east  of  Strawberry  Plains,  near  where 
the  Southern  railroad  crosses  Beaver  creek.  From  the 
farmhouse  could  be  seen  on  either  side  the  mountain 
walls  that  enclose  in  a  happy  homogeneity  both  American 
homes  and  patriotic  hearts. 

The  Father.  William  Lamar  was  born  in  Jefferson 
county,  Tennessee,  near  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury, on  January  21,  1797.  He  had  brothers  named 
Thomas,  James,  Henry,  and  John,  all  of  which  names  he 
afterward  gave  to  sons  of  his  own.  In  this  same  county 
of  Jefferson  he  grew  up  on  his  father's  farm,  and  in  it 
he  founded  a  home  of  his  own,  and  there  most  of  his 
children  were  born.  His  son,  Thomas  Jefferson,  was 
still  a  school  boy  when  the  father  removed  the  rest  of 
his  family  to  Missouri,    There  he  resided  until  his  death, 


SOx^^V       ^\   ^\^ 


Jim  ^KSK. 


i  ■ 


Thomas  Jefferson  Lamar, 
Ralph  Erskine  Tedford. 


William  Lamar, 
Daniel  Meek. 


Thi:  Boy  and  His  Lineage:  ii 

which  occurred  on  October  2,  1872,  when  he  was  in  the 
seventy-fifth  year  of  his  age. 

The  Mother.  Rebecca  Hodges,  the  daughter  of  Cal- 
loway Hodges,  also  of  Jefferson  county,  Tennessee,  was 
born  on  November  23,  1806,  and  so  was  nearly  ten  years 
younger  than  her  husband.  She  was  married  to  William 
Lamar  on  October  23,  1823,  when  she  was  only  sixteen 
years  old.  Rev.  Thomas  Wilkerson  ofl^ciated  at  the  wed- 
ding. She  died  in  their  Missouri  home  on  July  30,  1866, 
being  then  fifty-nine  years  of  age. 

A  Patriarchal  Family.      From  this  union  there  was 
born    a    patriarchal    family.      Mrs.    Lamar    was    nearly 
eighteen  years  old  when  she  first  became  a  mother,  and 
in   her   forty-third   year   her   fifteenth   child   was   born. 
There  were  ten  sons  and  five  daughters — two  sons  to  each 
daughter.     The   children   were:     James   Calloway,   born 
on  November  5,  1824;  Thomas  Jefferson,  November  21, 
1826;  Napoleon  Bonaparte,  February  22,   1828;  Joseph, 
November  8,  1829;  Eliza,  January  21,  1832;  Charles  H., 
May  10,  1833;  John,  December  18,  1834;  William,  Au- 
gust 2,    1836;   Lewis   Lafayette,   June  28,    1838;   Sarah 
Elizabeth,  February  19,  1840;  Henrietta,  September  12, 
1841;   Martha   Jane,   December   20,    1843;   Diana,    Sep- 
tember 8,   1845;  Jerome,  July  8,   1847;  and  Ferdinand 
De  Soto,  March  13,  1849.     In  1874,  when  Professor  and 
Mrs.  Lamar  visited  Missouri,  fourteen  of  the  family  were 
still  living;  in  March,  1920,  two  were  still  living,  namely 
Lewis  Lafayette,  aged  eighty-two  years,  at  the  old  home 
near  Weston,  Missouri;  and  Mrs.  Henrietta  Hall,  aged 
seventy-nine,  at  Denver,  Colorado. 

Thomas  Jefferson.    The  second  child  and  second  son 


12  Thomas  Jkffe:RvSon  Lamar 

in  this  large  family  is  the  subject  of  this  biographical 
sketch.  He  was  born,  as  is  stated  above,  on  Novem- 
ber 21,  1826.  His  mother's  twentieth  birthday  occurred 
two  days  after  his  birth.  The  statesman,  Thomas  Jeflfer- 
son,  had  died  on  the  fourth  of  July  of  the  same  year,  the 
fiftieth  anniversary  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence; 
and  perhaps  this  fact  suggested  the  name  for  the  baby. 

Boyhood  Days.  There  was  no  lack  of  playmates 
even  then,  and  playmates  multiplied  as  the  years  went  on. 
But  so  did  the  need  of  helpers  on  the  farm.  Thomas  and 
the  other  boys  were  brought  up  to  industrious  and  health- 
ful habits  in  the  daily  routine  of  the  farm.  Dr.  Thomas 
Theron  Alexander,  in  his  biographical  address  regarding 
Professor  Lamar,  which  was  delivered  at  the  dedication 
of  the  Lamar  Library  in  1888,  quoted  one  who  had 
known  Thomas  Lamar  from  childhood  as  saying  that  he 
was  an  ''unusually  kind  and  bright  boy,  making  friends 
everywhere."  It  was  a  wholesome  life  he  lived,  and,  as  we 
may  be  sure,  a  useful  one  as  well.  His  time  was  divided 
between  work  on  the  farm  and  attendance  at  school. 

Grandmother  Lamar.  Just  as  in  the  case  of  Isaac 
Anderson,  the  founder  of  Maryville  College,  it  was  a 
grandmother  who  devoted  herself  especially  to  his  re- 
ligious instruction,  so  in  the  case  of  Thomas  Jefferson 
Lamar,  the  refounder  of  the  College,  it  was  his  paternal 
grandmother  who  gave  him  his  principal  religious  instruc- 
tion and  training.  "Begin  with  his  grandmother"  is  the 
familiar  recipe  for  the  making  of  a  good  man.  In  these 
two  successful  instances  of  the  making  of  good  men,  the 
value  of  the  recipe  was  abundantly  vindicated.  Paul  hon- 
ored Timothy's  "Grandmother  Lois";  and  we  may  well 


The  Boy  and  His  Lineage  13 

honor  these  later  grandmothers.  How  much  Maryville 
College  owes  to  them !  What  stars  will  there  be  in  their 
crowns ! 

Beyond  the  Mississippi.  The  family  of  William 
Lamar  had  become  so  large  that  it  was  evident  that  no 
ordinary  upland  farm  among  the  hills  of  East  Tennessee 
could. adequately  provide  for  their  wants.  Some  of  the 
Lamar  relatives  had  emigrated  to  Missouri,  and  they  sent 
back  glowing  accounts  of  their  river-bottom  farms.  So, 
in  1844,  William  Lamar  decided  also  to  try  his  fortunes 
in  the  West ;  and  preparatory  thereto  he  sold  to  William 
Walker  his  three-hundred-acre  farm,  part  of  which  he 
had  inherited,  forty  acres  of  which  he  had  entered  in 
1824,  and  seventy-five  acres  of  which,  together  with  some 
slaves,  he  had  received  as  a  marriage  portion  with  his 
wife,  from  Calloway  Hodges  in  1825.  Then  he  embarked 
in  a  house-boat,  with  his  large  family,  and  made  the  long 
and  interesting  but  tortuous  journey,  down  the  Tennessee 
and  Ohio  and  Mississippi  rivers,  and  up  the  Missouri,  to 
the  rich  Missouri  river  bottoms  of  Platte  county,  Mis- 
souri. He  settled  not  far  from  his  kin  folk,  near  Weston, 
a  little  city  located  just  across  the  river  from  Leaven- 
worth, Kansas.  Here  he,  and  later  on,  his  children,  when 
they  made  homes  of  their  own,  became  prosperous  citi- 
zens. Two  of  the  sons,  "Ji"^"  ^^^  ''Jo^/'  removed  to 
the  territory  of  Washington,  and  there,  by  stock-raising, 
became  very  wealthy. 

An  Exile  from  Home.  An  honored  elder  of  the 
Strawberry  Plains  Presbyterian  Church,  Daniel  Meek, 
had  become  a  warm  friend  of  "Tom"  Lamar  while  he 
was  still  a  small  boy.    He  saw  the  bright  possibilities  of 


14  Thomas  Je;fferson  Lamar 

the  lad,  and  determined  to  do  what  he  could  to  enable 
the  boy  to  realize  what  he  found  was  his  chief  ambition — 
the  securing  of  a  college  education.  So  when  the  Lamar 
family  made  their  plans  to  remove  to  the  West,  he  under- 
took the  hard  task  of  persuading  Mother  Lamar  to  leave 
her  son  in  Tennessee  in  his  care,  promising  to  stand  by 
him  until  he  should  secure  a  college  education.  Thomas* 
thirst  for  an  education  overcame  his  own  strong  aversion 
to  separation  from  his  family;  and  at  last  his  mother, 
too,  gave  her  reluctant  consent  to  the  plan  proposed  by 
Mr.  Meek.  The  separation  from  "little  Tom"  nearly 
broke  her  heart;  but  she  comforted  herself  with  the 
thought  that  her  maternal  sacrifice  would  aid  in  securing 
for  her  son  the  education  he  so  much  coveted. 

Elder  Meek,  Foster-Father.  And  now,  until  his 
years  of  school  life  should  end,  young  Lamar  found  a 
foster-father  in  good  Daniel  Meek;  and  during  that 
period  his  home  was  in  the  Meek  household.  In  all  his 
school  days  he  had  the  cordial  sympathy  and  the  financial 
support  of  this  providential  friend.  At  Mr.  Meek's  home, 
during  his  vacations,  he  was  at  home;  on  his  farm  he 
worked ;  and  at  his  family  altar  he  knelt  with  the  family 
in  prayer.  And  the  affection  he  felt  for  his  benefactor 
and  family  came  to  be  like  that  of  kinship.  And  Daniel 
Meek  found  his  own  swift  reward  in  the  rapid  develop- 
ment of  his  young  friend,  and  in  his  promise  of  great 
usefulness  in  coming  days. 


CHAPTER  II 

The  Stude^nt  and  His  Te^achers 

The  Old-Time  Article  School.  Those  were  the  days 
before  the  present  free-school  system  had  been  intro- 
duced. Each  community  had  to  rely  upon  itself  in 
securing  schooHng  for  its  children.  A  school  teacher 
received  his  pay  from  the  famiHes  whose  children  he 
taught.  Usually  his  school  was  called  an  article  or  sub- 
scription school,  for  the  custom  was  for  his  prospective 
patrons  to  sign  their  names  to  articles  or  a  subscription 
paper  stating  how  many  children  they  would  pay  for  at 
the  tuition  rate  specified.  Such  schools  were  found  in 
most  self-respecting  communities.  It  was  in  such  neigh- 
borhood schools  that  Thomas  Lamar  and  his  brothers 
and  sisters  received  their  first  introduction  into  the  paths 
of  knowledge.  Though  the  schoolhouse  was  built  of  logs 
and  the  seats  were  made  of  puncheons  or  slabs,  the  mem- 
ories of  that  first  temple  of  learning  were  always  sacred 
to  him,  as  in  later  years  he  looked  backward  to  that 
schoolhouse  in  the  woods. 

Holston  Academy.  The  village  of  New  Market  was 
situated  only  about  four  miles  from  the  Lamar  home- 
stead, and  about  six  miles  from  the  Meek  homestead.  It 
boasted  a  school,  chartered  in  1832,  that  bore  the  name  of 
Holston  Academy.  In  the  course  of  the  years,  Thomas 
Jefferson  Lamar  was  promoted  from  the  article  school  to 
a  desk  in  Holston  Academy.  Here  he  found  a  congenial 
atmosphere,  and  formed  a  strong  attachment  for  the 
place,  an  attachment  that  showed  itself  when  in  later 


i6  Thomas  Jefi'erson  Lamar 

years  he  helped  in  the  estabHshment  and  development  of 
the  virile  presbyterial  institution,  New  Market  Academy, 
an  institution  which  rendered  excellent  service  to  the 
cause  of  Christian  education  during  the  years  extending 
from  1885  to  19 1 5.  Here  he  came  under  the  influence 
of  Dr.  William  Minnis,  pastor  of  the  New  Market  Pres- 
byterian Church,  and  a  resident  of  the  village.  Dr. 
Minnis  had  graduated  at  Maryville  College,  or  the  South- 
ern and  Western  Theological  Seminary,  as  it  was  then 
called,  in  its  first  class,  the  class  of  1825.  He  was  one 
of  the  ablest  and  best  ministers  of  East  Tennessee.  His 
influence  on  the  modest  lad,  Thomas  Lamar,  was  both 
helpful  and  wholesome. 

Orientation  of  Life.  It  was  during  these  school 
days  that  young  Lamar  became  a  Christian.  He  united 
with  his  home  church  at  Strawberry  Plains,  in  1842,  when 
he  was  sixteen  years  of  age,  his  pastor.  Rev.  Gideon  Steb- 
bins  White,  receiving  him  into  its  communion.  Among 
the  elders  of  the  church  at  that  time  was  Daniel  Meek, 
his  foster-father.  Mr.  Lamar  always  retained  a  deep  love 
for  this  church  home  of  his  boyhood.  Among  his  papers 
was  found  a  receipt  for  a  liberal  contribution  made  when 
the  congregation,  in  1871,  built  a  new  edifice.  Here  it 
was  that  he  adopted  high  and  Christian  ideals  of  service, 
and  decided  that  he  would  devote  his  life  to  the  Christian 
ministry.  And  it  was  with  this  distinct  purpose  in  his 
mind  that  he  earnestly  prosecuted  his  studies  during  the 
last  year  or  two  at  Holston  Academy.  It  was  with  this 
purpose  before  him  that  he  decided  to  enter  Maryville 
College  to  carry  forward  his  preparation  for  his  life  work. 

A  Momentous  Matriculation.     It  did  not  seem  to 


bo 

U 


The  Student  and  His  Teachers  17 

those    present    when   this    modest    and   timid    youth    of 
eighteen  presented  himself  at  Maryville,  before  President 
Anderson,  in  the  fall  of  1844,  for  admission  to  the  Col- 
lege, that  a  specially  noteworthy  or  unusual  event  was 
then  taking  place.     But  the  fact  was  that  no  more  mo- 
mentous matriculation  was  to  take  place  in  Maryville's 
first  century  than  was  this  lad's  matriculation.    There  was 
present  in  this  retiring  youth  the  potential  dynamic  that 
was  to  create  out  of  the  rubbish  of  a  ruined  Maryville  a 
new  Maryville  that  was  to  surpass  by  far  the  earlier  one. 
No  prophet  foretold  the  future  service  of  this  coming 
man  of  destiny;  but  the  college  historian  of  today  looks 
back  upon  the  wonderful  achievements  of  the  man  that 
grew  out  of  that  quiet  lad,  and  realizes  the  rare  impor- 
tance of  the  matriculation  of  Thomas  Jefferson  Lamar  on 
that  October  day  in  1844.     It  was  the  Master  who  said, 
"The  kingdom   of   God   cometh   not   with   observation." 
God  calls  his  chosen  to  their  posts  of  responsibility  and 
to  their  missions  of  service,  not  with  the  clangor  of  arch- 
angel's trump  in  the  vaulted  sky,  but  by  the  still  small 
voice  that  speaks  to  the  faithful  heart;  '^for  lo,  the  king- 
dom of  God  is  within  you."    And  his  chosen  ones  silently 
heed  his  voice  and  obey  his   command   and  take  their 
assigned  posts,  often  with  small  realization  on  their  part 
of  the  greatness  of  God's  plans  that  are  involved  in  the 
transaction. 

Modest  Maryville.  The  Maryville  College  of  1844 
was  a  very  modest  Maryville  in  every  respect.  Its  re- 
sources were  found  principally  in  the  men  who  had 
given  themselves  to  its  service.  The  two  buildings— the 
two-storied,  six-roomed,  brick  "Seminary,"  and  the  two- 


i8  Thomas  Jefferson  Lamar 

storied,  six-roomed,  frame  "College" — and  the  two  quar- 
ter-acre lots  constituted  the  college  plant.  Of  endowment 
there  was  only  a  Professorship  of  Didactic  Theology 
Fund  that  amounted  then  to  less  than  $8,000.  The  entire 
property  valuation  of  the  institution,  including  the  fund, 
the  buildings,  the  library,  and  all,  was  less  than  $15,000. 
The  student  body  was  also  small,  as  schools  now  run. 
During  young  Lamar's  first  year  at  Maryville  there  were 
seventy-eight  students  enrolled,  of  whom  twenty,  or  over 
one-fourth,  were  candidates  for  the  ministry,  and  one 
was  in  the  theological  department.  Maryille  was  modest, 
too,  in  fame  and  prestige.  It  had  never  blown  its  own 
trumpet,  and  though  it  was  widely  and  favorably  known, 
it  did  not  have  the  renown  that  comes  through  wealth  or 
political  influence. 

Mighty  Maryville.  But  Maryville  had  a  might  that 
none  could  challenge — the  might  that  comes  from  strength 
of  character.  The  force  of  character  in  the  Christian 
leaders  who  had  devoted  their  lives  to  the  service  of  the 
institution  was  an  endowment  richer  than  gold.  The 
peculiar  might  of  Maryville  was  found  also  in  the  ster- 
ling Christian  character  that  its  training  was  able  to 
develop  in  the  young  men  who  were  under  its  tutelage. 
The  College  was  destined  to  contribute  largely  to  the 
arousing  in  this  latest  matriculant,  ere  he  should  graduate, 
of  altruistic  ideals  that  should  lead  him  to  render  priceless 
services  in  behalf  of  Christian  education  in  the  valley  of 
East  Tennessee.  In  short,  Maryville,  small  as  it  was  in 
most  respects,  was  mighty  in  the  men  that  taught  and  in 
the  men  that  were  taught,  because  in  them  the  prevalent 
grace  of  God  was  operative.    Like  Bethlehem  Ephratah, 


Tut  Student  and  His  Teachers  19 

little  among  the  thousands  of  Judah,  little  Maryville,  too, 
was  great  because  God  was  in  her,  and  out  of  her  he 
should  bring  those  that  should  be  rulers  in  Israel. 

The  Professors.  The  Maryville  faculty  then,  as  for 
many  years  in  that  period,  was  a  triumvirate.  Chief  of 
the  three  mighty  men  of  valor  was,  of  course,  the  head 
of  the  institution,  Dr.  Isaac  Anderson  himself.  In  1819, 
when  he  founded  Maryville  College,  then  the  Southern 
and  Western  Theological  Seminary,  he  was  only  thirty- 
nine  years  of  age;  but  a  quarter  of  a  century  of  almost 
unbelievably  exhausting  work  had  been  performed  since 
that  time;  and  now,  at  sixty-four  years  of  age,  he  was 
devoting  all  the  wealth  of  his  rich  experience  and  un- 
selfish devotion  to  the  institution  which  he  loved  with 
so  intense  an  affection.  His  powers  had  not  yet  notice- 
ably begun  to  fail.  Young  Lamar  learned  to  love  Dr 
Anderson  with  a  devotion  that  caused  him  always  to 
speak  of  him  with  profound  reverence  and  filial  regard. 
He  imbibed  from  his  spirit  invigorating  drafts  of  the 
"disinterested  benevolence"  that  animated  it.  Wherever 
such  a  living  embodiment  of  Christian  principle  as  Dr. 
Anderson  was  teacher  would  be  a  great  college,  were 
there  no  other  endowment  or  equipment!  Then  there 
was  Rev.  Fielding  Pope,  the  able  professor  of  Mathe- 
matics and  Natural  Philosophy.  For  eleven  years  he 
had  shared  with  Dr.  Anderson  the  cares  and  toils  of  the 
school-room.  A  polished  and  courtly  gentleman,  an  accu- 
rate scholar,  and  an  efficient  teacher,  he  left  his  impress 
upon  young  Lamar,  who  recited  to  him  for  four  years. 
The  third  member  of  the  faculty  was  Dr.  John  S.  Craig, 
Professor  of  Languages.     He  had  been  a  teacher  in  the 


20  Thomas  Jei^ferson  Lamar 

institution  for  seven  years  and  a  professor  for  four  years. 
Rugged,  severe,  kindly,  incisive,  brilliant,  original,  deter- 
mined, and  entertaining,  he  also  was  a  prime  favorite  of 
the  students.  He  took  great  interest  in  the  youth  Lamar, 
who  was  to  be  later  on  a  colleague  and  always  a  loyal 
friend.  In  the  days  of  small  faculties,  the  personal  influ- 
ence of  the  teacher  upon  his  pupils  was  often  as  great  as 
was  that  of  parents.  Thomas  Lamar  profited  much  from 
the  personal  interest  of  this  illustrious  triumvirate  that 
then  made  up  Maryville's  faculty. 

A  Room  in  the  Seminary.  Young  Lamar  was  as- 
signed a  room  on  the  second  story  of  the  seminary  build- 
ing, a  little  two-story  brick  of  about  twenty-five  feet  by 
forty,  that  was  located  at  the  east  corner  of  the  lot  on 
which  New  Providence  Presbyterian  Church  now  stands. 
The  unfinished  building,  intended  for  a  female  seminary, 
was  purchased  by  the  Theological  Seminary  for  $600  in 
1820,  and  it  was  thereafter  in  constant  use  until  the  Civil 
War.  There  were  recitation  rooms  down-stairs,  and  dor- 
mitory rooms  up-stairs,  but  not  more  than  six  rooms  in 
all.  There  were  six  fireplaces,  one  of  which  was  in  young 
Lamar's  room.  The  Seminary  was  located  a  square  north 
of  the  Court  House,  the  center  of  the  village,  and  about 
two  squares  south  of  where  the  pioneers  had  built  their 
Craig  blockhouse.  For  nearly  forty-five  years  it  was  the 
oldest  building  of  the  institution  to  which  it  belonged. 
During  the  Civil  War  Professor  Lamar  had  the  sorrow 
of  seeing  it  demolished  by  Federal  troops.  Its  bricks 
were  used  to  make  ovens  for  the  army  cooks.  The 
Duncans,  with  whom  Professor  Lamar  was  then  living, 
secured  some  of  the  bricks  to  make  a  walk  in  their  front 


^nn  Student  and  His  Teachers  2i 

yard;  and  so  these  bricks  were  to  him  for  several  years 
daily  reminders  of  his  school-boy  days. 

Winning  His  Way.  The  college  days  of  young 
Lamar  were  days  of  incessant  industry.  He  was  forced 
to  be  a  Committee  on  Ways  and  Means  to  provide  for 
the  expenses  of  his  education.  Little  help,  if  any,  did 
he  receive  from  his  father  after  the  family  removed  to 
Missouri.  Something  he  earned  at  College  by  work,  and, 
toward  the  end  of  his  course,  by  tutoring.  As  we  have 
seen,  he  worked  at  Mr.  Daniel  Meek's  during  the  vaca- 
tions. He  once  said  that  he  had  plowed  all  over  the  hills 
of  the  Meek  farm.  Mr.  Meek  largely  took  the  place  of 
the  absent  father,  and  encouraged  Thomas  to  go  forward 
with  his  studies,  and  he  backed  up  his  counsel  by  sub- 
stantial gifts  and  loans  of  money.  The  entire  expense 
of  a  college  year  at  Maryville  was  then  advertised  to  be 
only  $71.75.  "The  student's  expenses  are  reduced  to  the 
very  lowest  possible  sum,  and  are  certainly  less  in  com- 
parison with  the  advantages  afforded  than  at  any  other 
institution  in  the  South  or  West."  Thus  did  the  College, 
as  in  thousands  of  other  cases  it  has  done,  assist  this 
young  man  in  securing  the  inestimable  treasure  of  a 
thorough  college  education.  In  this  case  and  in  many 
such  cases,  the  bread  cast  upon  the  waters  was  found  by 
the  College  in  later  days,  as  these  sons  of  hers  devoted 
their  life's  labors  to  the  service  of  the  College. 

Literary  Society.  There  were  two  literary  societies 
at  Maryville,  both  of  which,  as  was  befitting  in  a  theo- 
logical seminary,  were  designated  by  Hebrew  names.  The 
older  one  was  the  Beth-Hacma  (House  of  Wisdom)  Lit- 
erary Society;  and  the  junior  one,  the  Beth-Hacma- ve- 


22  Thomas  Jeffkrson  Lamar 

Berith  {  House  of  Wisdom  and  Covenant)  Society.  Yoiing 
Lamar  cast  in  his  lot  with  the  latter  organization.  In  the 
program  presented  by  the  society  at  its  thirteenth  anni- 
versary, on  September  lo,  1845,  at  New  Providence 
Church,  his  name  appears  as  that  of  an  orator.  His  stib- 
je(5t  was  "Mind."  On  the  program  for  the  first  joint 
anniversary  exercises  of  the  two  societies,  held  on  Sep- 
tember 14  and  15,  1847,  his  name  is  given  as  that  of  a 
vice-president. 

Four  Influential  Years.  In  national  matters,  the 
annexation  of  Texas,  the  war  with  Mexico,  and  the  treaty 
of  Guadalupe  Hidalgo  all  belong  to  these  four  college 
years.  In  the  history  of  Maryville  College  these  years 
mark  the  development  of  the  institution  into  a  college 
and  the  relegation  of  the  seminary  to  the  position  of  a 
fast-disappearing  and  subordinate  department  of  the  in- 
stitution. After  twenty-three  years  of  waiting,  the  legis- 
lature had  in  1842  granted  a  charter  to  Maryville  Col- 
lege; and  it  was  in  1846  that  the  final  amendments 
were  secured,  that  rendered  the  charter  acceptable  to  the 
directors  of  the  institution.  In  the  personal  development 
of  young  Lamar,  too,  the  four  years  were  also  epochal 
ones  indeed.  He  grew  out  of  eighteen  years  into  twenty- 
two,  and  out  of  immaturity  into  manly  maturity.  The 
years  were  far  and  away  the  most  influential  ones  in  the 
making  of  the  man  that  he  came  to  be.  They  established 
his  reputation  for  the  sterling  qualities  of  intellect  and 
character  that  he  always  afterward  displayed.  Four  years 
of  Maryville,  the  magician,  developed  in  young  Lamar 
the  ■  Maryville  character,  which,  in  turn,  he  helped  to 
impart  to  later  generations  of  Maryville  students. 


The  Student  and  His  Teachers  23 

Graduation.     The  terms  were  not  then  arranged  as 
now,  and  Lamar's  graduation  took  place  in  the  fall.    On 
Tuesday  night,  September  12,  1848,  a  class  of  six  young 
men  delivered  their  graduating  orations.    Their  diplomas 
were  signed  by  Isaac  Anderson,  President ;  Fielding  Pope, 
Professor  of  Mathematics  and  Philosophy;  and  John  S. 
Craig,  Professor  of  Languages.    The  subject  of  Lamar's 
oration  was,  "Utility  of  Literature."     The  other  mem- 
bers of  the  class  were  James  Monroe  Meek  of   Straw- 
berry Plains,  William  Edward  Caldwell  of  New  Market, 
Samuel  Wright  Wallace  of  Maryville,  Sylvanus  Howell  of 
Mossy  Creek,  and  John  Maxwell  Hofifmeister  of  Rogers- 
ville.     In  a  letter  written  in  August,   1848,  William  E. 
Caldwell  asked  his  classmate  Hoffmeister,  'What  is  Tom 
Lamar's  subject  for  a  valedictory  ?"    Besides  Lamar,  both 
Caldwell  and   Hoffmeister  entered   the  gospel   ministry. 
Mr.  Caldwell  rendered  eminent  service  in  the  ministry 
in  Tennessee  and  Texas,  and  lived  to  see  all  his  seven 
sons  officers  in  the  church  of  their  fathers,  and  his  only 
daughter  the  wife  of  a  minister  of  that  church.     And 
so  Thomas  Jefferson  Lamar  joined  that  worthy  host  of 
educated  men  who  could  not  have  had  a  college  training 
had  it  not  been  that  Maryville  offered  them  a  helping 
hand.     Well  did  he  pass  on  to  others  and  also  repay  to 
his  alma  mater  the  benefits  that  had  been  extended  to 
him.     He  had  been  graduated  into  Maryville's  confrater- 
nity of  altruists.     The  prime  glory  of  the  Christian  col- 
lege is  the  character  contribution  it  has  bestowed  upon  its 
students.    Maryville's  glory  in  this  regard  is  a  substantial 
and  fadeless  one. 


CHAPTER  III 

Thk  Thkologuij  and  His  Training 

Call  to  the  Ministry.  It  was  while  he  was  still  a 
youth  that  he  decided  that  he  was  called  to  the  ministry 
of  the  gospel.  The  ministers  with  whom  he  was  espe- 
cially acquainted,  such  as  his  pastor  at  Strawberry  Plains, 
Mr.  White,  and  the  pastor  of  the  neighboring  church  of 
New  Market,  Dr.  Minnis,  commended  to  him  by  their 
virtues  and  zeal  the  gospel  ministry  which  they  adorned. 
His  faithful  friend,  Ruling  Elder  Daniel  Meek,  and  others 
of  his  friends,  encouraged  him  to  dedicate  himself  to  the 
sacred  service  of  the  ministry.  But  above  all  these  influ- 
ences was  the  conviction  born  in  him  by  God's  Spirit 
that  his  mission  in  life  was  to  be  that  of  a  minister  of 
the  gospel.  Always  conscientious,  he  heeded  the  call,  and 
immediately  set  out  to  prepare  himself  for  this  high  call- 
ing. He  entered  Holston  Academy,  and  then  Maryville 
College,  and  there  prosecuted  his  studies  with  the  pur- 
pose of  equipping  himself  as  a  preacher  of  righteousness 
to  his  people.  And  throughout  his  academy  and  college 
courses  he  ever  kept  in  mind  his  sacred  vocation,  and 
thoughtfully  and  earnestly  sought  to  make  ready  worthily 
to  discharge  its  high  and  noble  duties.  His  graduation 
from  college  in  1848  marked  the  successful  completion  of 
the  literary  preparation  for  his  life  work. 

Maryville's  Theological  Department.  The  story  of 
the  twenty-nine  years  of  Dr.  Anderson's  training  of  young 
men  for  the  ministry  that  had  elapsed  after  the  Southern 
and  Western  Theological  Seminary  had  been   founded, 


The  TheoIvOGue  and  His  Training  25 

in  1819,  is  a  very  remarkable  one  indeed.  Almost  one 
hundred  and  fifty  candidates  for  the  ministry  had  been 
trained  under  the  masterly  tutelage  of  the  great  theo- 
logian and  greater  Christian,  who,  under  God,  was  the 
founder  and  the  chief  laborer  of  this  school  of  the  proph- 
ets. But  now,  owing  to  many  conspiring  influences,  the 
supply  of  candidates  had  almost  ceased,  and  the  seminary 
had  become  a  college,  and  even  the  theological  department 
had,  in  Dr.  Anderson's  old  age,  almost  disappeared.  And 
yet  such  was  Mr.  Lamar's  reverence  for  Dr.  Anderson 
and  his  loyalty  to  Maryville  that,  at  the  beginning  of  the 
next  scholastic  year  after  his  graduation  from  the  liter- 
ary department  of  Maryville  College,  he  entered  its  theo- 
logical department  in  order  to  carry  forward  his  studies 
for  the  ministry.  He  said  of  himself  that  he  studied 
theology  under  Dr.  Anderson  "nearly  two  years." 

Dr.  Anderson's  Methods  of  Teaching.  Mr.  Lamar 
had  come  under  the  influence  of  Dr.  Anderson's  wonder- 
ful personality  and  benevolent  character  during  his  entire 
college  course ;  but  now  he  felt  that  influence  more  vitally 
as  he  came  in  contact  with  him  in  the  study  of  the  great 
subjects  of  God  and  man  and  salvation.  There  were  few 
teachers  of  his  day  who  were  more  efficient  educators 
than  was  Isaac  Anderson.  He  used  a  very  complete  syl- 
labus of  112  pages,  in  the  form  of  question  and  answer, 
which  he  himself  had  prepared  and  published.  The  title 
page  contains  the  following:  "Questions  on  the  System 
of  Didactic  Theology  taught  in  the  Southern  and  Western 
Theological  Seminary.  By  Rev.  Isaac  Anderson,  D.D. 
'A  Bishop  then  must  not  be  a  novice,  lest  being  lifted 
up  with  pride  he  fall  into  the  condemnation.' — Paul.     *A 


26  Thomas  Je^^ferson  Lamar 

Bishop  then  must  be  apt  to  teach.' — Paul.  'The  Priest's 
lips  should  keep  knowledge,  and  they  should  seek  the  law 
at  his  mouth ;  for  he  is  the  messenger  of  the  Lord  of 
hosts.' — Malachi.  Maryville,  Tenn.  Printed  at  the  Intel- 
ligencer Office  by  Parham  &  Hoyt.  1833."  The  plan  of 
instruction  as  stated  on  the  last  leaf  of  this  syllabus  was 
as  follows:  *'In  Didactic  or  Christian  Theology  the  class 
have  the  subject  given  to  them,  as,  for  example.  Natural 
Theology.  They  are  then  directed  to  read  such  and  such 
authors ;  if  the  subject  is  a  controverted  one,  they  read 
on  both  sides.  After  they  have  done  reading,  they  then 
hear  a  lecture  from  the  professor,  and  are  required  to 
write  an  essay  on  the  same  subject  and  then  read  it  be- 
fore the  professor  for  remarks.  Afterwards  the  class  are 
examined,  according  to  the  preceding  questions  (in  the 
syllabus),  and  such  others  as  the  professor  may  think 
proper.  On  archaeology,  hermeneutics,  biblical  criticism, 
sacred  chronology,  ecclesiastical  history,  church  govern- 
ment and  discipline,  and  polemic  theology,  the  students  are 
required  to  read  the  most  approved  authors.  And  that 
they  may  make  themselves  familiar  with  these  branches, 
the  professor  has  lectures  on  these  sciences  in  the  form 
of  question  and  answer.  The  students  have  the  use  of 
these  manuscript  lectures,  and  are  required  to  be  able  to 
answer  every  question." 

Dr.  Anderson's  Personality.  In  this  simple  and  yet 
thorough-going  method  young  Lamar  and  his  few  fellow- 
students  in  theology  were  taught  by  the  man  of  God  the 
great  themes  they  were  to  present  to  their  fellow-men. 
But  the  most  effective  teaching  of  Dr.  Anderson  was  that 
which  proceeded  from  the  noble  Christian  example  that 


^iit  ThEoIvOGu^  and  His  Training  27 

he  set  before  his  boys.  No  one  could  be  associated  with 
him  day  by  day  and  year  after  year  without  being  pro- 
foundly affected  by  his  Christian  devotion,  magnanimity, 
and  zeal.  In  his  ripe  old  age  and  before  his  mind  had 
broken  under  the  strain  of  untold  toils  and  crushing  bur- 
dens, he  exerted  a  mighty  and  happy  influence  upon  his 
beloved  students.  Mr.  Lamar  learned  lessons  from  him 
which  he  continued  to  pass  on  to  other  Maryville  students 
so  long  as  he  lived  to  labor  for  them. 

Transfer  to  Union  Seminary.  During  the  latter 
part  of  the  scholastic  year,  1849-50,  Mr.  Lamar  left 
Maryrille  and  entered  the  Class  of  1852  at  Union  Theo 
logical  Seminary  in  New  York  City.  He  was  admitted 
on  February  23,  1850,  and  signed  the  matriculation  book 
on  April  18,  1850.  Dr.  Anderson  was  beginning  to  fail 
somewhat,  and  doubtless  encouraged  those  that  could  do 
so  to  prosecute  their  studies  in  other  theological  semi- 
naries, well-equipped  and  well-endowed,  to  which  the  rail- 
roads now  made  access  easier.  Almost  all  of  Maryville's 
ministerial  candidates  during  the  Fifties  "went  away"  to 
Seminary.  Three  graduates  of  1850  entered  other  semi- 
naries. Mr.  Lamar  wanted  the  best  possible  training, 
and  he  secured  what  he  coveted.  His  theological  training 
included  the  nearly  two  years  under  Dr.  Anderson  that 
have  been  referred  to,  and  more  than  two  years  at  Union 
Seminary.  His  grandfather,  Calloway  Hodges,  and  his 
father  assisted  him  in  meeting  his  expenses  while  he  was 
in  New  York. 

The  Union  Faculty.  During  Mr.  Lamar's  course  at 
Union  Seminary,  he  profited  by  the  instruction  of  able 
and  distinguished  teachers.    Drs.  Henry  White  and  James 


28  Thomas  Jei^i^ERSOn  Lamar 

Patriot  Wilson  were  professors  of  Systematic  Theology; 
Dr.  Edward  Robinson  was  Professor  of  Sacred  Liter- 
ature; Dr.  Thomas  Harvey  Skinner  was  Professor  of 
Sacred  Rhetoric,  Pastoral  Theology,  and  Church  Gov- 
ernment; Dr.  Henry  Boynton  Smith  was  Professor  of 
Church  History,  while  Dr.  Luther  Halsey  was  Instructor 
in  Church  History;  William  Wadden  Turner  was  In- 
structor in  Sacred  Literature;  and  Edward  Howe  was 
Instructor  in  Sacred  Music.  Some  of  these  men  ranked 
among  the  leading  scholars  of  America  in  their  depart- 
ments. The  curriculum  they  laid  out  for  their  students 
was  one  of  the  most  extensive  and  scholarly  then  offered 
in  any  theological  seminar3^ 

The  Seminary  "Boys."  There  were  twenty-two  men 
who  graduated  in  the  Class  of  1852,  while  eighteen  others 
were  connected  with  the  class  for  a  shorter  or  longer 
period.  Among  the  men  that  were  seminary  mates  of 
Mr.  Lamar  were  the  following :  P.  Mason  Bartlett,  D.D., 
LL.D.,  '53,  afterward  President  Bartlett,  and  Professor 
Lamar's  colleague  at  Maryville  from  1869  to  1887;  Car- 
son William  Adams,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  '53,  afterward  the 
founder  of  Maryville's  "Carson  W.  Adams  Fund"  ;  Elijah 
Woodward  Stoddard,  D.D.,  ^52,  also  a  donor  to  Mary- 
ville; Elias  Levi  Boing,  '53,  later  a  financial  agent  of 
Maryville;  Samuel  Audley  Rhea,  '50,  later  the  "Tennes- 
seean  in  Persia" ;  John  McCampbell,  '53,  and  George  A. 
Caldwell,  '53,  other  Tennesseeans  by  birth  and  ancestry ; 
Thomas  Samuel  Hastings,  D.D.,  '51,  the  preacher  and 
hymnologist;  Wilson  Phraner,  D.D.,  '50,  who  outlived 
almost  all  his  seminary  mates;  while  among  those  who 
became  foreign  missionaries  were  George  Whitfield  Coan, 


The  ThEologue:  and  His  Training  29 

'49,  Persia;  Charles  Livingston,  '49,  of  Blantyre,  Scot- 
land, Africa;  Dwight  Whitney  Marsh,  D.D.,  '49,  Tur- 
key; William  Woodbridge  Eddy,  D.D.,  '50,  Syria;  Seth 
Bradley  Stone,  '50,  Africa;  William  Pratt  Barker,  '51, 
India;  Jasper  Newton  Ball,  '52,  Turkey;  Edward  Toppin 
Doane,  '52,  Micronesia;  Jerre  Lorenzo  Lyons,  D.D.,  '54, 
Syria ;  and  Sanford  Richardson,  '54,  Asia.  Among  these 
and  scores  of  other  seminary  men,  Lamar  formed  many 
delightful  and  stimulating  friendships. 

The  City  of  New  York.  Mr.  Lamar  looked  upon 
his  mission  in  life  as  being  so  serious  an  undertaking  that 
he  coveted  a  thorough  preparation  for  it.  Instead  of  cur- 
tailing that  preparation,  as  the  manner  of  some  sluggards 
and  some  zealots  has  been,  he  lengthened,  as  we  have 
seen,  the  course  prescribed  by  his  church  to  those  who 
desire  to  enter  the  ministry,  by  a  full  year.  And  he 
sought  and  obtained  also  the  benefit  of  more  than  two 
years'  residence  in  the  metropolis  of  his  country.  Those 
were  the  days  of  sectionalism  and  provincialism,  but  he 
longed  for  the  fullest  acquaintance  with  all  the  sections 
of  our  country  and  first-hand  knowledge  of  their  ideas 
and  ideals.  And  so  the  farmer's  son  from  East  Ten- 
nessee profited  largely  from  the  indirect  education  that 
he  received  from  those  years  spent  in  the  great  Northern 
city  of  New  York.  In  mission  work  in  the  neglected  sec- 
tions of  the  city,  too,  he  had  an  experience  that  broad- 
ened still  further  his  already  broad  sympathies  for  the 
unfortunate. 

A  Seminary  Graduate.  The  rich  years  of  inter- 
course with  able  Christian  scholars  and  with  the  edu- 


30  Thomas  Jefferson  Lamar 

eating  influences  of  a  great  city  came  all  too  soon  to  an 
end.  On  June  i6,  1852,  he  graduated  from  Union  Theo- 
logical Seminary,  receiving  his  diploma  signed  by  Pro- 
fessors Edward  Robinson,  Thomas  H.  Skinner,  Henry  B. 
Smith,  and  James  P.  Wilson.  He  was  now  a  thoroughly 
educated  man.  Always  of  painstaking  and  accurate  schol- 
arship, he  had  profited  fully  by  the  training  in  the  coun- 
try school,  Holston  Academy,  Maryville  College  in  both 
college  and  theological  departments,  and  Union  Seminary. 
And  now,  at  almost  twenty-six  years  of  age,  he  was  ready 
to  enter  upon  his  ministry  of  the  gospel,  a  ministry  that 
was  to  continue  nearly  thirty-five  years. 


CHAPTER  IV 

The  Minister  and  His  Ministry 

Licensure  to  the  Ministry.  In  May,  1852,  before 
he  left  New  York,  he  was  Hcensed  to  the  gospel  minis- 
try by  the  Presbytery  of  Brooklyn.  His  examination 
was  eminently  satisfactory,  and,  in  reply  to  the  solemn 
questions  of  the  moderator,  he  declared  his  faith  in  the 
Scriptures  as  the  Word  of  God,  his  acceptance  of  the 
Confession  of  Faith  as  containing  the  system  of  doctrine 
taught  in  the  Scriptures,  and  his  promise  to  study  the 
peace,  unity,  and  purity  of  the  Church.  And  now  having 
reached  the  goal  toward  which  he  had  been  pressing  for 
ten  years,  he  hurried  westward  with  two  purposes  in 
mind,  namely,  first,  to  see  his  parents  from  whom  he  had 
parted  when  he  was  only  a  boy,  and,  then,  to  enter  upon 
his  ministry  in  the  home  mission  field  of  the  West. 

Ministry  at  Weston,  Missouri.  Although  a  Ten- 
nesseean,  and  very  loyal  to  his  native  State,  the  fact  that 
his  parents  and  his  brothers  and  sisters  were  now  Mis- 
sourians,  and  that  the  need  of  the  churches  on  the  Mis- 
souri frontier  was  great,  led  him  to  begin  his  ministry  in 
Missouri.  During  the  years  1852  to  1855  he  was  located 
among  his  relatives  near  Weston,  Platte  county,  and  was 
in  charge  of  churches  of  that  locality.  In  the  gazetteers 
of  the  Fifties,  W^eston,  though  settled  first  in  1838,  is  said 
to  have  been  at  that  time  the  most  important  commer- 
cial town  on  the  Missouri  river  or  in  the  State,  with  the 
exception  of  St.  Louis.  Its  population  was  three  thou- 
sand, and  it  was  the  principal  point  of  departure   for 


32  Thomas  Jic^i^erson  Lamar 

emigrants  starting  for  California  by  the  overland  route; 
it  provided  the  supplies  for  Fort  Leavenworth ;  and  it 
also  carried  on  an  extensive  trade  with  the  Indians  and 
the  Far  West.  The  town  was  picturesquely  located  on 
the  Missouri  river,  five  miles  above  Fort  Leavenworth, 
and  was  described  as  "a.  flourishing  city  and  river  port." 
Here  among  his  kindred  and  amid  the  rich  river  farms 
of  Platte  county,  he  did  his  first  work  as  a  Christian 
minister.  And  while  here  he  was  ordained  to  the  minis- 
try by  the  Presbytery  of  Lexington.  His  ordination  at 
the  hands  of  his  brethren  took  place  on  May  i,  1854. 
And  he  carried  out  their  injunction  and  ever  afterward 
gave  full  proof  of  his  ministry. 

And  at  Savannah,  Missouri.  At  the  urgent  invita- 
tion of  Rev.  Elijah  A.  Carson,  an  alumnus  of  Maryville, 
ordained  in  1834,  and  then  pastor  at  Savannah,  the 
county  seat  of  Andrew  county,  the  second  county  far- 
ther up  the  Missouri  river  valley,  Mr.  Lamar  removed  to 
Savannah  to  take  charge  of  an  academy  that  offered  a 
great  field  for  useful  Christian  service.  Savannah  was 
located  six  miles  from  the  river,  and  in  the  midst  of  a 
fertile  farming  region.  Here  he  united  the  work  of 
teacher  and  preacher,  as  he  was  destined  to  do  during  the 
rest  of  his  life.  It  was  while  he  was  at  Savannah,  as  will 
be  seen  elsewhere  in  this  narrative,  that  he  was  married. 
Mr.  Lamar  was  now  in  the  prime  of  life.  His  five  years 
of  preaching  and  teaching  in  Missouri  were  fruitful  years, 
and  left  a  permanent  impress  upon  the  communities  in 
which  he  labored.  And  they  were  especially  enjoyable 
years,  too,  on  account  of  his  reunion  with  his  relatives. 

Back  to  Tennessee.     In  the  midst  of  this  congenial 


The:  Minister  and  His  Ministry  33 

work  of  his,  there  came  an  urgent  call  from  the  Synod  of 
Tennessee  for,  his  return  to  Maryville  to  accept  the  pro- 
fessorship of  Sacred  Literature  in  his  alma  mater.  While 
the  call  was  to  educational  work,  it  in  reality  added  a 
full-time  ministry  to  the  Synod  of  Tennessee;  for,  from 
his  arrival  in  Tennessee  and  up  to  the  last  year  of  his 
life,  he  had  pastoral  charge  of  churches  in  addition  to  his 
college  professorship.  The  call  was  extended  to  him  by 
the  Synod  on  September  2'j,  1856,  but  his  engagements 
and  family  responsibilities  at  Savannah  were  such  that  he 
could  not  leave  until  the  scholastic  year  had  ended.  So 
it  was  not  till  the  summer  of  1857  that  he  and  his  family 
reached  Maryville.  He  began  his  work  in  the  College  at 
the  opening  of  the  fall  term  of  the  year  1857-58. 

Blount  County  Churches.  Mr.  Lamar,  like  the  other 
professors  of  the  college  faculty,  took  charge  of  such 
country  churches  in  Blount  county  as  would  otherwise 
have  been  pastorless.  In  spite  of  the  weariness  that  came 
as  the  result  of  long  over-hours  of  teaching,  he  regularly 
preached  for  these  churches,  and,  in  addition,  did  all  the 
pastoral  work  that  he  could  find  time  for.  He  buried  the 
dead  and  married  the  living,  and  proclaimed  the  gospel 
of  the  kingdom;  and  the  people  loved  him  and  he  loved 
the  people.  He  preached  for  the  people  of  Clover  Hill, 
Forest  Hill,  Unitia,  and  other  churches  for  many  years. 

War-Time  Ministry.  The  Civil  War  overturned  in 
confusion  all  the  institutions  of  peace,  such  as  civil  gov- 
ernment, social  intercourse,  the  school,  and  the  church. 
Blount  county  twice  passed  from  one  government  to  the 
other,  social  ties  were  strained  and  severed,  the  college 
and  other  educational   institutions  were  closed,   and   so 

3 


34  Thomas  Jefferson  Lamar 

were  many  of  the  churches,  though  some  were  opened 
intermittently.     Mr.  Lamar,  always  a  courteous  gentle- 
man, endeavored  to  avoid  giving  needless  offense  to  those 
of  other  convictions.     Friends  on  the  other  side  of  the 
house,  at  critical  times,  lent  their  best  efforts  in  his  behalf 
to  such  good  effect  that  he  escaped  the  perils  of  the  war, 
and  nothing  more  serious  befell  him  than  the  loss  of  his 
horse  and  some  other  property.    During  most  of  the  four 
years  in  which  our  country  was  a  house  divided  against 
itself,   he   was   permitted   to   conduct   services   on    Sab- 
baths for  such  people  as  could  collect  for  the  worship  of 
Almighty  God.     He  had  lost  his  wife  before  the  begin- 
ning of  the  war;  and  so  his  child,  a  motherless  invalid, 
demanded  all  his  attention;  otherwise  he  could  have  en- 
tered the  service  as  chaplain.     As  it  was,  he  was  acting 
chaplain   for  the  sorely  distressed  people  who  lived  in 
a   section   that   was   the   battleground   of   many   armies. 
And  grievously  did  the  people  need  the  consolations  and 
the  cheer  of  the  gospel,   while  they  were  harassed   on 
every  hand  by  the  especially  fratricidal  strife  that  raged 
throughout  East  Tennessee.     Mr.  Lamar  did  all  that  lay 
in  his  power  to  keep  alive  in  his  countrymen,  both  friends 
and  foes,  faith  in  the  presence,  power,  providence,  wis- 
dom, and  love  of  God.     Anxious  men  and  women  and 
children  listened  to  his  messages  and  took  courage. 

After- War  Church  Reorganization.  At  last  the  war 
came  to  an  end,  and  peace  returned  to  a  weary  land.  Mr. 
Lamar  searched  for  and  found  the  records  of  the  Synod 
of  Tennessee,  and  then  led  in  the  reorganization  of  the 
Synod.  A  quorum  was  secured,  and  the  Synod  of  Ten- 
nessee came  together  at  New  Market  in  October,   1865. 


The  Minister  and  His  Ministry  35 

The  ecclesiastical  machinery  was  salvaged  from  the  dump 
heap  and  set  to  going  again.  He  was  the  principal  figure 
in  this  historic  meeting  of  Synod.  Around  him  gathered 
a  goodly  number,  and  they  united  in  laying  the  founda- 
tions of  the  church  anew  after  the  destruction  and  deso- 
lation wrought  by  the  war.  His  wisdom  and  sagacity  and 
sympathy  as  a  counsellor  made  him  sought  out  by  the 
people  of  many  churches,  as  they  endeavored  to  feel  their 
way  out  of  the  darkness  and  wreckage  of  the  war  into  a 
brighter  day  and  into  constructive  work.  And  he  was 
kept  very  busy  preaching  in  these  many  churches. 

Stated  Clerkship  of  Synod.  The  Synod  appointed 
him  stated  clerk,  and  he  ably  discharged  the  duties  of  this 
office  for  twenty-two  years,  or  until  the  time  of  his  death. 
The  fact  that  the  Synodical  College  was  located  at  Mary- 
ville  led  often  to  the  appointment  of  a  Maryville  man  as 
stated  clerk.  Professor  William  Eagleton  held  the  office 
from  1825  to  1830;  Professor  Darius  Hoyt,  1830-1836; 
Professor  Fielding  Pope,  1836-1851;  President  John  J. 
Robinson,  1851-1855;  Professor  Thomas  Jefferson  Lamar, 
1865-1887;  Professor  Gideon  Stebbins  White  Crawford, 
1887-1891 ;  and  President  Samuel  Tyndale  Wilson,  1891- 
19 19.  Professor  Lamar  kept  the  records  with  his  usual 
care  and  accuracy.  The  task  of  writing  the  records  was 
a  heavy  one  and  was  performed  as  a  labor  of  love  for 
the  work  of  the  Synod.  The  salary  was  merely  nominal. 
The  manuscript  records  of  the  Synod  are,  by  order  of 
the  Synod,  kept  deposited  in  the  college  safe  at  Maryville. 

Earnest  Preacher.  Mr.  Lamar  was  an  able  sermon- 
izer.    Dr.  Alexander  says,  "As  a  sermonizer  he  had  few 


36  Thomas  Jefferson  Lamar 

equals  in  this  section  of  country."  He  sometimes  preached 
extemporaneous  sermons,  but  usually  employed  manu- 
script. He  wrote  out  each  sermon  in  full  and  with  pains- 
taking care.  He  made  his  own  goosequill  pens,  but  his 
writing  resembled  electrotype  work.  He  composed  very 
rapidly,  usually  standing  at  a  high  desk.  His  sermons 
were  always  thoughtful  and  always  earnest.  A  brother 
minister  who  often  heard  him,  testified  that  he  never 
heard  him  preach  a  poor  sermon,  or  an  uninteresting  one. 
He  was  always  an  able  preacher,  but  it  was  a  matter  of 
common  remark  that  his  very  best  preaching  was  that  of 
his  last  year  in  the  pulpit,  the  year  closing  in  May,  1886, 
at  which  time  his  health  broke  down  and  put  an  end  to 
his  active  ministry. 

Sage  Counsellor.  Reference  has  been  made  to  the 
great  service  he  rendered  as  a  wise  counsellor  at  the  time 
of  ecclesiastical  reorganization  in  1865.  His  service  in 
this  respect  was  by  no  means  limited  to  that  period. 
Always  he  was  a  sage  counsellor.  He  had  the  gift  of 
organization.  He  could  set  others  to  work,  to  do  work 
that  they  did  not  know  that  they  could  do,  and  work  that 
sometimes  he  himself  could  not  have  done.  His  study 
was  a  council-chamber  where  brother  ministers  and  ruling 
elders  of  local  churches  and  the  presbyteries  and  the 
Synod,  and  colleagues  of  the  college  faculty,  and  present 
students  and  former  students  came  for  counsel  and  advice. 
His  study  was  a  council-chamber  for  Presbyterianism  in 
East  Tennessee,  as  well  as  for  the  College  and  the  county. 
Indeed  his  place  in  this  regard  has  never  been  filled.  His 
most  beneficent  work  for  the  church,  aside  from  his 
service  through  the  College,  was  rendered  in  the  sage  and 


The  Minister  and  His  Ministry  37 

sympathetic  counsel  that  he  freely  gave  to  the  many  that 
sought  it  in  his  quiet  study. 

Missions  His  Great  Commission.  The  work  of  the 
church  occupied  his  heart's  devotion.  He  was  busy  day 
and  night  in  advancing  its  sacred  interests.  His  commis- 
sion to  preach  was  a  mission  entrusted  to  him  by  Christ 
and  his  church.  Home  and  foreign  missions  enlisted  his 
enthusiastic  cooperation  and  inspired  his  tireless  support. 
The  work  in  the  Southern  mountains — the  work  for  which 
Maryville  was  founded  and  to  which  it  has  been  devoted — 
stirred  his  liveliest  sympathies.  Christian  education  to 
him  was  a  passion  because  it  was  a  means  to  lead  men  to 
Christ  and  a  means  by  which  to  carry  forward  the  work 
of  the  Great  Teacher.  He  rejoiced  to  see  many  of  his 
choicest  students  go  to  foreign  fields,  and  to  destitute 
home  mission  fields.  He  was  an  able  minister  of  the 
New  Testament,  called  and  commissioned  to  a  congenial 
service — the  proclamation  of  the  gospel  of  the  kingdom 
to  a  world  that  needs  it. 


CHAPTER  V 

The  Teacher  and  His  Teaching 

Predilection  for  Teaching.  Professor  Lamar  was 
a  teacher  from  his  youth  onward.  While  a  student  at 
Maryville,  during  his  collegiate  and  theological  courses, 
he  was  an  assistant  teacher  or  tutor.  Mr.  James  Gillespie 
tells  of  reciting  Vattel's  Law  of  Nations  to  him.  He 
had  been  out  of  the  Seminary  only  three  years  when  he 
became  a  ''teacher"  at  Savannah,  Missouri,  and  was  so 
listed  in  the  Minutes  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church.  After  two  years  he  was  called  to 
Maryville  College,  and  there  discharged  the  duties  of  his 
professorship  until  the  outbreak  of  the  war.  And  even 
during  that  dread  vacation  period  of  four  years  of  civil 
strife,  he  taught  a  little  private  school  in  the  home  of  the 
Duncans.  It  was  attended  by  the  Duncan  and  McCon- 
nell  children,  Nannie  McGinley,  and  the  household  help. 
Mrs.  Jennie  Duncan  Crawford  recalls  the  professor's 
seating  her  on  a  trunk  to  work  off  a  condition  in  her 
spelling  book  before  permitting  her  to  join  the  family  in 
a  day's  outing  that  was  being  planned.  He  was  always 
and  everywhere  a  teacher. 

A  Professorship  at  Maryville.  On  September  2^, 
1856,  a  day  after  the  overwhelming  defeat  of  the  last 
effort  ever  made  to  remove  the  College  from  the  town  of 
Maryville,  the  Synod  of  Tennessee,  in  session  at  Athens, 
unanimously  elected  Mr.  Lamar  as  Professor  of  Sacred 
Literature,  to  succeed  Dr.  John  J.  Robinson,  who  had 


The:  Teacher  and  His  Teaching  39 

resigned.  This  professorship  had  been  founded  by  the 
Synod  through  the  agency  of  Rev.  Thomas  Brown,  the 
most  efficient  agent  of  the  College  in  ante-bellum  days. 
The  salary  offered  was  $600,  but  the  amount  received 
was  always  less  than  the  stipulated  amount.  Professor 
G.  S.  W.  Crawford,  in  1876,  in  an  address  that  was  re- 
vised by  Professor  Lamar,  stated:  ''From  1819  to  1861 
no  professor  ever  received  so  much  as  $500  salary,  while 
the  average  was  about  $300-"  The  first  incumbent  of 
the  professorship  was  Rev.  John  J.  Robinson,  D.D.,  from 
1850  to  1855;  Professor  Lamar  was  the  second,  from 
1857  to  1861.  The  Synod  recognized  the  special  interest 
attaching  to  the  recall  of  a  favorite  son  into  the  service 
of  alma  mater,  and  added  a  touch  of  sentiment  to  their 
action  by  appointing  a  special  committee  of  two  to  pre- 
sent and  urge  the  call,  namely,  Ruling  Elder  Daniel  Meek, 
of  Strawberry  Plains  Church,  his  benefactor  and  foster- 
father,  and  Rev.  Gideon  Stebbins  White,  the  pastor  of  his 
boyhood  days,  who  had  received  him  into  the  church  and 
encouraged  him  to  enter  the  ministry. 

This  Another  Momentous  Event.  It  was  a  mo- 
mentous event,  as  we  have  seen,  when,  in  1844,  Thomas 
Lamar  matriculated  at  Maryville.  And  another  momen- 
tous event  was  it,  indeed,  when,  in  1857,  Rev.  Thomas 
Jefferson  Lamar  returned  to  Maryville  to  reenter  the 
College  as  one  of  its  professors.  It  was  a  noteworthy 
event  in  the  accession  of  a  scholarly  and  faithful  teacher ; 
but  it  was  a  most  significant  event  because  in  this  modest 
teacher  there  was  also  found  an  educational  statesman  and 
financial  wonder-worker— thaumatourgos,  as  his  Greek 
language  would  have  called  him.     In  this  silent  school- 


40  Thomas  Jei'i^Erson  Lamar 

teacher  there  was  embodied  far-seeing  vision  and  un- 
conquerable resolution.  On  that  momentous  day  there 
entered  the  little  college  circle  a  man  who  was  to  snatch 
up  the  blazing  torch  of  Christian  education  that  had  just 
fallen  from  the  dying  hands  of  Dr.  Anderson  and  carry 
it  onward,  sometimes  unaided  and  unaccompanied  by 
others,  until  he  should,  almost  a  third  of  a  century  later, 
pass  it  over  into  the  hands  of  others  of  Maryville's  men. 
There  entered  into  the  service  of  alma  mater  that  autumn 
day  a  man  who  was  to  defy  the  destruction  of  war,  and, 
by  God's  assisting  grace,  was  to  establish  on  a  lordly 
campus  on  the  southeastern  hills,  the  new  buildings  of  a 
bigger  and  better  Maryville  than  the  fathers  had  dared 
even  to  hope  for.  There  dawned  upon  Maryville  on  that 
day  of  his  return  the  certainty  of  a  new  and  glorious 
future.  And  yet  perhaps  none  realized  it,  and  no  one 
less  than  he! 

"Professor  Lamar."  Mr.  Lamar  entered  upon  his 
professorship  in  the  fall  of  1857.  And  thus  'Tom 
Lamar"  became,  by  the  quick  nomenclature  of  college 
boys,  "Professor  Lamar,"  and  Professor  Lamar  he  re- 
mained to  the  end  of  his  life.  Nominally,  he  was  Pro- 
fessor of  Languages  in  the  Literary  Department,  and 
Professor  of  Sacred  Literature  in  the  Theological  Depart- 
ment of  Maryville  College;  but  practically,  as  was  the 
case  in  almost  all  the  heavy-laden  teachers  of  that  day, 
his  work  extended  over  most  of  the  departments  of  the 
school.  As  Dr.  Anderson,  who  had  closed  his  earthly 
career  only  a  few  months  before,  had  at  some  time  con- 
ducted every  class  scheduled  at  Maryville,  so  Professor 
Lamar  had  ample  opportunity  to  show  his  versatility,  for 


The  Teacher  and  His  Teaching  41 

the  classes  he  conducted  ranged  all  the  way  "from  A  to 
Izzard"  in  nature  and  variety. 

Trying  Days.  The  College  had  been  passing  through 
hard  experiences.  Dr.  Anderson  for  several  years  had 
been  incapacitated  both  mentally  and  physically  for  work ; 
and  on  January  28,  1857,  after  Mr.  Lamar's  election  as 
professor  but  before  he  had  entered  upon  his  duties,  had 
closed  his  earthly  career.  The  General  Assembly  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  in  session  at  Cleveland,  Ohio,  in 
May  of  that  year,  only  echoed  the  general  sorrow  of  the 
church  when  it  recorded  "with  deep  regret  the  decease 
of  the  Rev.  Isaac  Anderson,  D.D.,  late  President  of  the 
Institution  at  Maryville."  In  1855  Dr.  Robinson  had 
resigned  his  professorship  to  accept  a  call  to  Kentucky. 
The  only  professor  from  1855  to  1857  was  Rev.  John  S. 
Craig.  He  was  assisted  by  Charles  C.  Newman  as  tutor 
and  other  students  as  assistants.  In  1855-56  there  were 
only  fifty-eight  students  enrolled ;  in  1856-57,  sixty- two 
students,  of  whom  twenty-two  were  in  the  College  Depart- 
ment. There  was  a  strong  effort  being  made  to  remove 
the  College  to  Rogersville.  The  fortunes  of  the  College 
were  at  their  lowest  ebb.  Many  of  the  old  friends  of  the 
institution  despaired  of  its  future. 

Better  Days  Coming.  The  Synod  of  Tennessee 
ended  the  contest  for  the  removal  of  the  College  by  de- 
ciding in  October,  1856,  by  a  decisive  majority,  to  have 
the  institution  remain  at  Maryville  for  at  least  ten  years. 
It  also  called  Mr.  Lamar  to  the  professorship,  which  he 
entered  a  year  later.  It  took  steps  toward  the  completion 
of  the  brick  college  building,  which  had  been  begun  in 
1853.    Immediately  after  the  death  of  Dr.  Anderson,  the 


42  Thomas  Jefferson  Lamar 

Directors  elected  Dr.  John  J.  Robinson  as  the  second 
president  of  the  College,  and  he  entered  upon  the  dis- 
charge of  his  duties  at  the  opening  of  the  summer  session, 
April  7,  1857.  Professor  Lamar's  estimate  of  Dr.  Robin- 
son was  that  he  was  "a  fine  scholar,  an  able  theologian, 
eloquent  preacher,  and  thorough  instructor."  Thus  the 
steadfast  Dr.  Craig  and  the  tutors  were  reinforced  by  two 
as  able  men  as  Maryville  had  ever  had  in  her  faculty, 
Mr.  Lamar  and  Dr.  Robinson,  one  a  former  student  and 
tutor  and  the  other  a  former  professor  of  the  institution, 
and  both  of  them  graduates  of  Union  Theological  Semi- 
nary. Popular  confidence  was  reestablished,  and  the  flow 
of  students  set  toward  the  College  again.  Prosperity  and 
growth,  to  a  greater  degree  than  before,  seemed  the  sure 
destiny  of  the  school.  The  worst  was  over,  and  a  better 
day  had  dawned.  Religious  activity  increased.  A  revival 
took  place  in  College,  and  fifteen  out  of  the  sixty-six 
enrolled  were  converted.  A  college  weekly  prayer  meeting 
and  a  Sabbath  evening  preaching  service  were  established. 

The  New  Professor's  Scholarship.  The  standards 
of  scholarship  upheld  by  the  new  professor  were  high. 
He  had  not  been  studying  at  Maryville  and  in  New  York 
and  teaching  in  the  West  to  no  effect.  Accurate  and  ver- 
satile, he  entered  upon  his  new  duties  with  enthusiasm 
and  painstaking  devotion.  The  faculty  of  three — Craig, 
Lamar,  and  Robinson — commanded  public  favor  as  much 
as  did  any  Maryville  faculty  of  the  first  college  century. 
They  revised  the  curriculum  and  planned  an  advance  in 
college  standards.  Whether  it  was  Greek  or  Geography 
that  Professor  Lamar  taught,  it  was  well  taught.  Pre- 
paratory, college,  and  theological  courses  were  all  thor- 


Thd  T:e:acher  and  His  Teaching  43 

oughly  conducted  by  him.  In  the  first  post-bellum  year, 
he  taught  almost  all  the  curriculum !  For  a  few  years  in 
the  Sixties  he  was  also  County  Superintendent  of  Public 
Instruction  for  Blount  county,  and  won  the  strong  endorse- 
ment of  State  Superintendent  John  Eaton,  afterwards  the 
United  States  Commissioner  of  Education. 

Patience  in  Class-Room  Drill.  Of  indefatigable  per- 
severance, he  was  especially  effective  in  the  painstaking 
drill  that  he  gave  his  students  in  the  Greek  verbs  and 
particles,  and  in  all  else  that  he  taught.  Of  long-suffer- 
ing endurance,  he  trained  his  students  in  the  mastery  of 
details.  Quiet  but  persuasive,  his  influence  was  every- 
where strong,  and  nowhere  stronger  than  in  the  class 
room.  It  was  the  stolidity  of  the  student  rather  than 
lack  of  persistence  on  the  part  of  the  pedagogue  that 
accounted  for  any  failure  on  the  part  of  his  pupil. 

Kindliness  in  Discipline.  Where  he  felt  it  was  pos- 
sible to  save  a  student  to  better  things,  he  was  very  patient 
and  forbearing;  but  when  the  moral  welfare  of  the  entire 
school  was  involved,  he  could  be  very  firm,  and,  when 
occasion  required  it,  very  stern.  But,  in  it  all,  his  kindli- 
ness of  heart  and  genuine  desire  for  the  student's  well- 
being  revealed  itself  in  all  cases  of  discipline.  Said  one 
frequent  offender:  "He  was  kind  to  me,  as  if  he  wanted 
to  do  me  good."  With  this  kindliness,  hovirever,  there 
went  along  a  shrewd  insight  that  read  with  remarkable 
accuracy  the  true  inwardness  of  the  student  arraigned 
before  him.  He  was  not  often  deceived,  even  when  the 
student  flattered  himself  that  he  had  succeeded  in  an 
attempted  deception. 


44  Thomas  Jei'i'e:rson  Lamar 

Sympathetic  Heart.  He  did  not  "carry  his  heart  on 
his  sleeve,"  and  so  some  may  have  fancied  him  cold  and 
indifferent,  but  they  were  entirely  mistaken.  Under  his 
quiet  reserve,  there  beat  a  heart  of  sympathy  and  loving- 
kindness.  One  of  his  students  of  the  early  days  said  of 
him :  "No  one  ever  went  to  him  for  help  and  came  away 
empty."  The  fact  that  the  students  knew  him  to  be 
thus  in  kindliest  sympathy  with  them  established  between 
them  and  their  teacher  a  very  close  and  cordial  relation- 
ship. And  thus  his  heart  taught  his  students  even  more 
effectively  than  did  his  intellect. 

Fruitful  Pedagogy.  And  so  this  able  and  conse- 
crated teacher  rendered  a  service  to  his  students  that 
won  their  gratitude  and  elicited  their  enthusiastic  praise. 
Some  of  his  students  he  made  scholars,  and  Greek  schol- 
ars, too ;  some  he  helped  to  a  choice  of  a  life  vocation ; 
some  who  had  gone  astray  he  won  back  to  repentance  and 
a  new  life ;  many  he  aided  in  the  greatest  of  all  decisions — 
that  of  choosing  the  Christian  life  purpose.  And  so  this 
teacher's  influence  flowed  beyond  the  class  room  into  the 
lives  of  his  students.  And  for  thirty  years  did  this  Chris- 
tian pedagogue  render  this  gracious  and  helpful  service 
to  the  students  of  Maryville  College. 


CHAPTER  VI 

A  Cpiristian  Statesman 

The  Teacher  also  a  Statesman.  There  are  teachers 
that  are  teachers  and  Httle  else.  Their  orbit  is  a  limited 
though  worthy  one.  Of  Professor  Lamar,  however,  all 
who  knew  his  work  were  constrained  to  say  that  he  was 
not  only  a  teacher  and  a  Christian  teacher,  but  also  a 
Christian  statesman.  He  had  clear  views  and  ideals  of 
policy  and  of  the  best  ways  of  realizing  that  policy.  The 
daily  routine  of  a  treadmill  existence  was  transformed  into 
the  delights  of  achievement  as  his  vision  pierced  beyond 
the  immediate  present  to  the  greater  and  more  influential 
and  serviceable  future  which  should  grow  out  of  the 
prosaic  present,  and  which  was  vitally  connected  with  it. 
The  treadmill  work  of  today  was  connected  in  his  broad 
vision  with  the  useful  triumphs  of  tomorrow,  or  of  some 
other  tomorrow.  He  was  not  content  to  be  a  mere  school- 
room pedagogue.  He  was  ambitious  to  help  realize  a 
better  school-room  and  much  beyond  the  school-room. 
He  was  a  constructive  educational  statesman. 

Higher  Christian  Education.  He  recognized  the  fact 
that  one  of  the  most  vital  needs  of  the  world  is  the  need 
of  higher  Christian  education.  The  result  of  his  study 
of  history  and  society  was  this  tenet  of  his  experimental 
philosophy :  'The  world  is  lost  without  trained  Christian 
leaders."  And  since  this  is  indisputably  a  fact,  he  decided 
to  tie  up  his  own  life  to  this  necessary  and  beneficent 
business  of  higher  Christian  education. 

Extension  of  Maryville's  Contribution  to  It.      From 


46  Thomas  Je^i^^brson  Lamar 

1857,  when  he  entered  the  Maryville  faculty,  till  1887, 
when  his  life  work  terminated,  he  was  ever  ambitious 
and  resolved  that  Maryville  College  should  in  the  amplest 
pos^ble  way  realize  Dr.  Anderson's  expressed  desire,  that 
it  should  "do  good  on  the  largest  possible  scale."  His 
heart  was  burdened  with  a  sense  of  duty  to  inaugurate 
ways  and  means  by  which  Maryville  could  grow  in  facili- 
ties for  doing  more  widely  the  good  thing  it  had,  during 
all  its  days,  been  doing,  namely,  the  making  of  well- 
trained  and  far-visioned  Christian  leaders.  To  this  great 
end,  he  dreamed,  he  resolved,  he  attempted,  he  achieved, 
and,  finally,  he  gave  his  life. 

Its  Clientage  Increased.  In  this  endeavor  he  joined 
his  colleagues  immediately  in  an  earnest  efifort  to  increase 
the  number  of  students  in  attendance.  So  successful  was 
the  attempt,  even  in  those  days  of  small  population  and 
no  public  schools  and  comparative  poverty,  that  the  en- 
rollment at  Maryville  was  nearly  doubled  in  those  four 
troubled  years  before  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  War. 
A  new  popular  favor  came  to  the  institution,  and  there 
was  fair  promise  of  a  much  larger  and  more  enthusiastic 
clientage.  The  United  Synod,  at  Huntsville,  Alabama,  in 
i860,  bore  testimony:  "The  College  of  the  United  Synod 
at  Maryville  is  now  commanding  public  attention  and 
attracting  the  regard  of  our  denominational  body  in  a 
higher  degree  than  perhaps  at  any  former  period." 

The  "South  Hills"  Expansion  Planned.  In  con- 
junction with  President  Robinson,  Professor  Lamar  had 
his  share  in  planning  the  removal  of  the  College  from 
the  half -acre  campus  on  Main  street  to  the  spacious  and 
quiet  "South  Hills,"  where,  in  the  earliest  days  of  the 


A  Christian  Statejsman  47 

Seminary,  the  seminary  farm  had  been  located.  He  and 
President  Robinson  gave  their  personal  note  for  $2,000,  by 
which  they  secured  option  on  fifty  acres  of  that  attractive 
site.  Had  the  War  not  arisen,  the  probability  is  that  their 
plan  might  have  been  realized,  and  the  school  have  been 
removed  to  the  South  Hills.  After  the  War,  however,  it 
was  the  East  Hills,  adjoining  the  South  Hills,  that  Pro- 
fessor Lamar  succeeded  in  securing,  thus  realizing  the 
essential  features  of  his  ante-bellum  dream. 

But  War  Engulfs  Everything.  While  the  little  fac- 
ulty at  Maryville  was  planning  expansion,  the  cruel  out- 
burst of  civil  war  threatened  extinction.  The  sectional 
quarrel  had  been  of  such  long-standing  duration,  that 
many  men  had  got  into  the  habit  of  expecting  that  it 
would  end  in  words,  not  blows;  but  they  were  now  sadly 
undeceived.  The  fury  of  the  struggle  had  in  it  the  accu- 
mulated momentum  of  the  long-dammed- •tp  tide  of  bitter- 
ness. And  the  heart-broken  professor,  upon  his  return 
from  presbytery  on  April  23,  1861,  found  that,  the  day 
before,  the  College  had  been  closed,  and  that  now  teachers 
and  students  were  scattering  wherever  their  sense  of  duty 
and  the  force  of  circumstances  were  sweeping  them.  It 
was  as  if,  an  eye-witness  from  the  shore,  he  had  seen  a 
gallant  ship  with  which  his  fortunes  and  his  interests 
were  all  identified,  go  suddenly  down  in  the  vortex  of  a 
raging  v/hirlpool,  leaving  nothing  behind  but  wreckage 
and  the  memory  of  its  former  beauty  and  utility. 

Everything !  Everything !  As  he  gazed,  all  that  had 
been  familiar  and  dear  to  him  in  connection  with  his  own 
college  days  and  then  with  his  four  happy  years  as  teacher 
disappeared  from  sight.     Engulfed  in  the  maelstrom  of 


48  Thomas  Jeffkrson  Lamaj^ 

the  War,  there  vanished  the  men  who  sat  in  the  chairs  of 
instruction  and  those  who  were  enrolled  in  their  classes 
as  students.  Down,  too,  went  the  modest  endowment,  the 
library,  the  buildings — one  altogether  and  others  practi- 
cally so — and,  finally,  even  those  ruins  that  remained. 
And  amid  these  national  and  college  disasters,  the  pro- 
fessor suffered  the  added  griefs  that  come  from  domestic 
sorrow.  He  had  lost  in  the  summer  before  the  outbreak 
of  the  War  his  wife  and  their  infant  child.  But  there 
remained  with  him  his  other  child,  little  Katie,  a  beloved 
care  that  moved  his  heart  with  constant  sympathy.  And 
so  within  his  borrowed  home  was  this  daily  care,  and 
without  were  the  desolations  of  war. 

Yet  Unwavering  in  Purpose.  But  throughout  those 
dreary  years  Professor  Lamar  fainted  not,  nor  swerved 
from  his  designs  of  good  for  the  old  College,  and,  through 
it,  for  the  church  and  mankind.  As  he  sat  at  the  fire- 
place in  the  home  of  the  Duncans,  where  he  resided  after 
the  death  of  his  wife,  he  would  talk  over  his  plans  for 
reopening  the  College  when  the  War  should  end ;  and 
then,  before  going  to  his  room,  he  would  conduct  family 
worship,  and  never  fail  to  pray  for  the  College  that  then 
was  not,  but  that  should  yet  be  again,  if  God  should 
please.  Dr.  Alexander  said  of  this  period  of  Professor 
Lamar's  life,  "The  professor,  however,  saw  in  the  wide- 
spread desolation  no  ground  for  despondency,  but  rather 
an  opportunity  for  work."  Meanwhile  he  watched  the 
progress  of  events  with  an  eager  eye  and  with  confidence 
in  the  overruling  providence  of  God. 

Only  Awaiting  an  Opportunity.  Tied  down  by  the 
death  of  his  wife  to  the  care  of  his  helpless  child,  he  was 


A  Christian  Statesman  49 

not  drawn  into  the  war  and  war  work.  And  so,  provi- 
dentially, he  was  able  to  stay  at  his  post,  watching  the 
interests  of  what  had  been  and  yet  should  be  the  insti- 
tution of  higher  Christian  education  to  which  he  had 
devoted  his  life.  Men  may  not  turn  aside  the  devastating 
currents  of  war,  but  they  may  wait  until  those  currents 
have  run  their  course  and  ebbed  away ;  and  then  they  may 
take  up  again  interrupted  work  and  follow  again  the  path- 
way from  which  they  had  been  driven.  This  was  another 
instance  illustrating  the  truth  of  Milton's  words :  "They 
also  serve  who  only  stand  and  wait." 

Planning  and  Praying.  ''When  the  cruel  war  is 
over,"  was  the  refrain  that  ran  through  the  thinking  of 
Americans  of  both  sections  in  those  sad  years  of  strife. 
Professor  Lamar  planned  what  should  be  with  God's  help 
in  those  blessed  days  to  come;  and  then  he  prayed  to 
God  for  his  grace  and  favor  to  bring  to  pass  the  reali- 
zation of  those  plans.  Tested  and  tried  during  those 
years  and  before  those  years,  he  believed  most  unre- 
servedly in  the  plans  and  providences  of  his  heavenly 
Father,  and  sought  with  confidence  to  tie  up  all  his  own 
plans  and  purposes  with  the  will  of  God.  And  God 
hears  and  heeds  such  knocking  and  seeking  and  asking 
as  Professor  Lamar  brought  to  the  place  of  prayer. 

Peace  and  Work  Again.  And  when  peace  at  last 
dawned  again  on  a  war-worn  country,  immediately  this 
quiet,  silent  statesman  began  to  set  influences  in  operation 
to  bring  about  the  reopening  and  rebuilding  of  Maryville 
College  in  order  that  it  might  contribute  its  quota  to  the 
gigantic  task  then  committed  to  the  Christian  colleges  of 
the  land  in  the  preparation  of  a  proper  and  adequate 

4 


50  Thomas  Jei^ferson  Lamar 

educated  leadership  for  the  reunited  country  and  the  New 
America  that  was  to  be.  For  two  great  causes  he  toiled 
day  and  night ;  they  were  never  off  his  thoughts,  namely, 
the  church  and  the  College.  And  within  six  months  after 
the  close  of  the  war,  largely  through  his  leadership,  the 
Synod  of  Tennessee  was  reorganized  and  had  held  an 
epochal  meeting  at  New  Market,  on  October  12-14,  1865, 
and  had  appointed  him  a  director  of  the  College  and  had 
ordered  him  to  reopen  the  institution.  Within  twelve 
months  more,  he  was  able  to  carry  this  order  into  effect. 
And  thus  the  statesman's  dreams  had  been  justified  and 
had  begun  to  be  realized.  But  this  story  belongs  to  the 
next  chapter. 


CHAPTER  VII 
A  College  Builder 

Facing  a  Scrap  Heap.  Surely  no  more  unpromis- 
ing outlook  for  a  college  builder  could  have  existed  than 
was  that  before  Professor  Lamar  as,  at  the  close  of  the 
war,  he  looked  out  upon  Maryville  College  to  take  stock 
of  its  resources.  Those  resources,  at  the  best,  before  the 
war  were  limited  enough,  but  now  were  almost  non-exist- 
ent. The  original  seminary  building  had  entirely  disap- 
peared, while  the  main  building  was  a  mere  skeleton,  with 
no  doors  or  window  frames  or  even  window  casings.  The 
library  and,  indeed,  the  wreck  of  the  main  building  and 
the  land  it  stood  on,  and  all  else,  had  been  sold  at  sheriff's 
sale  in  1864  to  satisfy  a  judgment  against  the  Directors. 
The  endowment  of  $15,739  had  been  reduced  to  a  face 
value  of  $7,182  and  an  actual  value  of  $5,539.  Add  to 
this  the  cash  value  of  real  estate  and  other  property,  and 
the  entire  assets  of  the  College  did  not  amount  to  more 
than  $6,036.    Maryville  College  was,  indeed,  a  scrap  heap. 

What  Synod  Did.  At  the  meeting  of  the  Synod  of 
Tennessee  in  its  reorganization  in  1865,  Professor  Lamar 
made  a  frank  and,  therefore,  profoundly  discouraging 
report  of  the  condition  of  the  finances,  the  plant,  and  the 
prospects  of  the  College.  A  free  discussion  was  had  as 
to  what  should  be  done  regarding  the  future  of  the 
Synodical  College.  Some  felt  that  its  case  was  clearly 
hopeless.  It  had  been  practically  annihilated,  and  its 
friends  were  so  impoverished  that  the  problem  of  their 
own  future  was  alone  as  serious  a  problem  as  they  could 


52  Thomas  Jei'^krson  Lamar 

deal  with.  In  the  midst  of  the  depression  that  prevailed, 
Hon.  Horace  Maynard,  a  delegate  from  the  Second 
Church  of  Knoxville,  rose  and  made  an  earnest  speech  in 
favor  of  the  reopening  and  rehabilitation  of  the  College, 
on  the  ground  that  otherwise  the  needed  ministry  for  the 
churches  of  the  Synod  could  not  be  secured.  Professor 
Lamar  and  his  friends  agreed  with  Mr.  Maynard's  po- 
sition, and  the  Synod,  as  was  stated  in  a  former  chapter, 
voted  to  revive  the  institution;  and  to  that  end  elected  a 
full  board  of  directors,  and  a  treasurer,  and  empowered 
Professor  Lamar  to  reopen  the  College  in  the  fall  of 
1865,  if  practicable,  and  at  the  same  time  appointed  him 
as  financial  agent  of  the  school. 

A  Winter  of  Torture.  It  was  entirely  impracticable 
to  reopen  the  school  in  the  fall  of  1865.  There  was  no 
money  available  and  the  building  was  uninhabitable.  But 
something  had  to  be  done  or  the  dead  could  never  be 
restored  to  life.  Professor  Lamar  nerved  himself  to  a 
heart-breaking  task,  and,  in  December,  1865,  he  com- 
mitted Katie,  his  little  charge,  to  the  kind  care  of  Mrs. 
Duncan,  and  went  North,  and  labored  for  four  months, 
or  until  xA^pril,  1866,  in  a  desperate  endeavor  to  interest 
people  in  Maryville  College,  and  to  secure  money  for  its 
rehabilitation.  He  was  of  a  most  retiring  and  diffident 
disposition,  and  so  the  work  of  seeking  funds  for  the 
College  was  one  that  inflicted  upon  him  untold  torture 
and  even  agony.  People  at  home  were  reduced  to  bitter 
poverty,  while  people  in  the  North  were  not  then  in  the 
habit  of  contributing  largely  to  the  cause  of  education 
even  at  home,  and  surely  not  to  a  far-off  school  in  a  sec- 
tion with  which  they  had  just  been  engaged  in  bloody 


A  College  Builder  53 

strife.  It  would  be  hard  to  exaggerate  the  nerve-racking 
wretchedness  that  Professor  Lamar  endured  for  the  king- 
dom of  heaven's  sake  during  those  dreadful  four  months 
of  his  first  financial  agency  for  his  alma  mater.  He  was 
so  economical  that  his  expenses  amounted  to  only  $190; 
but  his  best  endeavors  were  able  to  secure  only  $125  in 
contributions.  Hon.  William  E.  Dodge  contributed  $100 
of  this  sum.  At  last  the  four  months  came  to  a  dismal 
end,  and  he  returned  to  Maryville  worn  out  and  penni- 
less. Nothing  was  to  be  expected  from  a  distance  at  that 
time  of  national  disturbance  and  readjustment. 

Year  One  of  the  New  College.  So  he  returned  to 
the  Duncan  fireside,  and  took  to  his  heart  again  little 
Katie  and  his  college  problems.  And  he  decided,  as  Dr. 
Anderson  had  decided  in  a  similar  predicament  forty- 
seven  years  before,  that,  if  others  would  not  help,  he 
would  start  the  work  without  man's  help.  So  on  July  4, 
1866,  fit  day  for  so  heroic  and  patriotic  an  announce- 
ment, he  had  issued  over  the  signature  of  his  future 
father-in-law,  Rev.  Ralph  Erskine  Tedford,  Recorder  of 
the  Directors  of  the  College,  a  one-page  announcement 
that  the  reopening  of  the  College  would  take  place  on 
Wednesday,  September  5,  1866.  By  September,  1866, 
Treasurer  John  P.  Hooke,  "by  prompt  and  energetic 
action,"  as  Professor  Lamar  said,  had  succeeded  in  se- 
curing at  a  cost  of  $587,  through  attorneys,  the  few  bonds 
of  any  value  that  had  escaped  destruction  during  the  Civil 
War.  They  were  Knox  county  bonds.  He  also  had 
collected  by  that  date  in  interest  on  the  bonds  and  out- 
standing notes  the  sum  of  $1,039.  -^^'^^  so  in  Septem- 
ber, 1866,  the  boarding  house,  a  dilapidated  little  frame 


^  Thomas  Jefferson  Lamar 

building  on  the  present  site  of  the  Second  Presbyterian 
Church,  was  redeemed  at  the  cost  of  $217,  and  the  main 
college  building,  for  $59.25.  And  the  sum  of  $97.60  was 
paid  for  glass  and  putty  with  which  to  repair  the  win- 
dows of  those  rooms  of  the  college  building  that  were 
to  be  occupied  by  the  classes.  And  so  Maryville  College 
began  its  first  year  of  the  new  era,  on  the  first  Wednes- 
day of  September,  1866.  The  window  glass  had  not  yet 
been  put  in,  and  there  was  not  a  decent  room  in  the 
tumble-down  building.  The  cattle,  wandering  about  the 
village,  stared  in  wonder  through  the  window  openings 
at  Professor  Lamar  and  the  lucky  thirteen  men  who  had 
answered  the  call  of  the  old  college  bell  on  that  historic 
day. 

The  Salutatory.  James  Andrew  Goddard,  one  of 
the  thirteen,  has  a  very  distinct  recollection  of  Professor 
Lamar's  talk  made  to  them  at  that  unpromising  opening. 
The  professor  congratulated  them  upon  the  desire  for  an 
education  that  their  presence  there  indicated.  He  spoke 
of  the  power  of  an  educated  man ;  and  of  his  own  fixed 
purpose,  for  the  sake  of  country  and  church,  to  push 
forward  the  long-intermitted  work  of  Maryville  College. 
He  urged  the  young  men  to  exercise  patience  until  their 
surroundings  could  be  made  more  presentable,  and  coun- 
seled them  to  fidelity  and  industry.  He  told  them  not  to 
be  discouraged  because  the  war  had  interfered  with  their 
education.  H  they  worked  hard,  they  could  make  up  what 
was  lost.  The  thirteen  who  listened  to  this  reassuring 
talk  and  joined  in  that  first  chapel  service  of  the  new 
day  were  Francis  Miller  Allen,  George  Eagleton  Bick- 
nell,  Gideon  Stebbins  White  Crawford,  Calvin  Alexander 


A  CoivI.e:ge:  Builde:r  55 

Duncan,  James  Andrew  Goddard,  Benjamin  Houston 
Lea,  Isaac  Anderson  Martin,  William  Henderson  Porter, 
Edward  W.  Sanderson,  Hugh  Walker  Sawyer,  Joseph 
Patton  Tedford,  Charles  Erskine  Tedford,  and  Edward 
Weeks  Tedford.  Four  were  returned  soldiers.  Six  later 
on  entered  the  gospel  ministry.  Mr.  Crawford  was  for 
sixteen  years  Professor  of  Mathematics  in  Maryville 
College.  Beside  the  thirteen  students  present,  William 
Edmond  Parham,  then  a  little  child  of  six  years,  was  a 
very  interested  spectator.  Professor  Lamar  holding  the 
little  fellow  between  his  knees  as  he  talked  with  the 
students. 

A  Good  Beginning.      In  spite  of  the  ''horrible  and 
disgusting"  building,  as  one  of  the  thirteen  described  it, 
the  school  grew  by  additions  until  the  modest  four-page 
catalogue  published  at  the  end  of  the  year  contained  the 
names  of   forty-seven  students— two  in  the  college  de- 
partment and   forty-five  in  the  preparatory  department. 
Among  these  students  were  men  who  became  leading  citi- 
zens of  the  county  and   some  who  attained  distinction 
elsewhere.      Besides   the   immortal   thirteen   there    were 
enrolled:    John    Casper   Braniier,   now    ex-president   of 
Leland   Stanford  University;  James  E.   Alexander,  and 
J.    Albert   Wallace,    who    afterward    became    ministers; 
James   H.   Alexander,   James   M.   Brown,   M.D.,   Moses 
Carson,  James  P.,  Richard,  and  W.  G.  Chandler,  T.  P. 
and  S.  A.  Cowan,  James  Culton,  W.  F.  Dowell,  Capt. 
J.  Perry  Edmondson,  B.  F.,  I.  W.,  J.  L.,  and  S.  Hous- 
ton George,  James  A.  and  N.  H.  Greer,  J.  H.  Harmon, 
W.  W.  Hedrick,  John  F.  Henry,  Z.  Taylor  McGill,  Major 
William  Anderson  McTeer,  R.  P.  McReynolds,  C.  A.  H. 


56  Thomas  Jefferson  Lamar 

Palmer,  Robert  Porter,  J.  G.  Reed,  M.  C.  Tipton,  G.  R. 
and  VV.  A.  Walker,  James  S.  Warren,  and  D.  M.  Wilson. 
Several  of  these  men  were  afterward  directors  of  the 
institution,  among  whom  were  Major  William  Anderson 
McTeer,  who  has  served  thus  far  ( 1920)  for  forty-eight 
years  (sixteen  years  as  Treasurer),  and  Rev.  Calvin  Alex- 
ander Duncan,  D.D.,  for  forty-four  years.  The  faculty 
that  memorable  first  year  'consisted  of  Rev.  Thomas  Jef- 
ferson Lamar,  Acting  President,  Professor  of  Languages, 
and  Professor  of  Mathematics.  Besides  these  depart- 
ments he  conducted  what  else  was  taught,  excepting  those 
classes  that  were  conducted  by  Isaac  A.  Mar1;in,  Tutor, 
sole  member  of  the  Junior  Class. 

Finding  Colleagues.  In  the  circular  catalogue  for 
1866-67,  Professor  Lamar  \vrote  what  was  more  than  a 
wish;  it  was  part  of  his  statesmanlike  purpose.  "The 
friends  of  the  institution,"  said  he,  "at  the  earliest  practi- 
cable period,  wish  to  provide  a  full  and  efficient  faculty, 
and  all  the  facilities  for  a  thorough  education."  His  own 
salary  was  not  adequately  provided  for;  what  could  he 
offer  to  others?  And  yet  he  began  to  gather  about  him 
colleagues  who  were  to  bear  their  share  of  the  responsi- 
bilities and  ambitions  of  the  College.  In  Union  Theo- 
logical Seminary  he  had  known  and  esteemed  P.  Mason 
Bartlett,  a  member  of  the  class  following  his  own.  He 
had  hoped  to  secure  this  friend  of  his  at  the  very  opening 
of  the  College  in  1866,  and  did  print  his  name  in  the  July 
circular  as  the  professor  to  be  in  charge  of  the  Depart- 
ment of  Mathematics.  But  Dr.  Bartlett  did  not  join  him 
at  Maryville  until  in  March,  1869,  when  he  came  to  enter 
upon  his  duties  as  the  third  president  of  the  College,  to 


A  College:  Builder  57 

which  position  he  had  been  elected  on  September  26,  1868, 
upon  the  recommendation  of  Professor  Lamar.  In  the 
fall  of  1867,  Professor  Lamar  secured  as  Professor  of 
the  Latin  Language  and  Literature,  Rev.  Alexander  Bart- 
lett,  the  brother  of  Dr.  Bartlett.  These  three  professors 
made  up  the  faculty  until  1875.  They  were  aided  by 
tutors  and  assistant  teachers.  In  1875,  Rev.  Gideon  Steb- 
bins  White  Crawford,  of  the  class  of  1871,  a  graduate  of 
Lane  Theological  Seminary  in  1874,  became  Professor  of 
Mathematics.  Rev.  Solomon  Zook  Sharp  was  a  professor 
from  1875-78;  William  A  Cate,  from  1879-92;  in  1884, 
two  other  former  students  of  Professor  Lamar's,  Rev. 
Edgar  Alonzo  Elmore,  '74,  and  Rev.  Samuel  Tyndale 
Wilson,  '78,  were  added  to  the  faculty.  Six  members 
of  this  faculty  rendered  a  total  of  one  hundred  and 
twenty-nine  years'  service  to  the  institution. 

The  Motives  He  Urged.  To  illustrate  the  motives 
that  Professor  Lamar  held  before  those  whom  he  sought 
to  bring  into  the  Maryville  faculty,  the  writer  ventures  to 
quote  a  few  lines  from  a  letter  he  received  upon  reaching 
Tennessee  after  his  health  had  broken  down  in  Mexico: 
"I  have  now  and  then  had  it  in  my  mind  to  write  to  you 
about  accepting  a  professorship  in  the  College,  but  ques- 
tioning both  the  propriety  and  possibility  of  persuading 
you  to  abandon  your  very  hopeful  and  interesting  mis- 
sionary work,  I  have  not  had  the  courage  to  do  so.  The 
only  reason  at  all  plausible  I  could  think  of  was  that,  by 
stirring  up  and  advancing  a  missionary  spirit  in  the  Col- 
lege, you  might  multiply  yourself  many  times  in  Mexico. 
*  *  *  In  view  of  the  condition  of  your  health  and 
your  probable  exclusion  from  Mexico,  and  in  view  of  a 


58  Thomas  Je:fferson  Lamar 

constitution  that  will  have  constant  need  of  a  healthful 
climate,  and  in  view  of  the  hopeful  and  promising  field 
here  presented  for  training  and  sending  forth  laborers 
into  the  field  both  home  and  foreign,  will  you  not  weigh 
prayerfully  and  carefully  the  reasons  pro  and  con  for 
making  Maryville  College  the  theatre  of  your  life  work?" 

Winning  Friends  and  Donors.  In  a  few  lines  may 
be  recorded  what  it  took  years  of  toil  to  bring  about— 
the  interesting  of  generous  donors  in  this  little  East 
Tennessee  college.  With  the  help  of  such  agents  as  Rev. 
Samuel  Sawyer,  and  the  efforts  of  President  Bartlett,  and 
the  mediation  of  influential  friends  who  were  leaders  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church,  Professor  Lamar  had  the  satis- 
faction of  seeing  a  small  but  interested  clientage  built  up, 
and  money  begin  to  be  contributed  to  Maryville  College. 

Jehovah-jireh!  A  New  Campus!  Real  estate  was 
low,  and  Professor  Lamar  looked  longingly  at  the  Hast 
Hills  and  the  undulating  and  picturesque  campus  it  might 
come  to  be.  Could  not  the  dreams  of  other  days  now 
come  to  pass?  On  October  14,  1867,  a  check  for  $1,000, 
the  largest  gift  ever  received  by  Maryville  up  to  that 
time,  was  received  from  William  Thaw  of  Pittsburgh, 
a  donor  whose  name  was  so  connected  with  Maryville 
thereafter  that,  had  its  owner  consented,  the  name  of  the 
institution  might  have  been  Thaw  College.  Two  days 
later,  this  check  together  with  a  note  for  $691.50  was 
paid  to  Julius  C.  Fagg  for  the  sixty-five  acres  that  still 
form  the  front  of  the  campus.  And  now,  at  last,  after 
forty-eight  years,  the  College  owned  a  beautiful,  ample, 
and  appropriate  site!  For  the  forethought  that  secured 
this  sightly  campus  and  extended  it  till  it  is  one  of  the 


u 

O 


O 


i^ 


A  CoIvLKGe:  Builder  59 

largest  and  best  in  the  possession  of  an  American  college, 
those  of  the  present  generation  often  bless  the  sagacity 
and  statesmanship  of  Professor  Lamar.  The  property 
has  increased  a  hundredfold  in  money  value,  but  it  has 
also,  throughout  the  era  of  expansion,  allowed  the  build- 
ings a  choice  of  sites,  and  made  possible  such  immunity 
from  fire  risk  as  few  colleges  enjoy. 

And  Four  New  Buildings!  Mr.  John  C.  Baldwin 
was  interested  by  an  article  that  Professor  Lamar  wrote 
for  the  New  York  Evangelist,  and  by  visits  from  Dr. 
Bartlett  and  Mr.  Sawyer;  and  within  two  years  contrib- 
uted the  splendid  sum  of  $25,400  to  the  College.  Mr. 
Thaw,  Mr.  Dodge,  and  others  made  liberal  contributions, 
and  the  Directors  were  able  to  erect  in  1869-70  a  main 
building,  almost  a  replica  of  the  old  college  in  town  but 
much  better  built.  It  was  named  for  Dr.  Anderson, 
Anderson  Hall.  Memorial  and  Baldwin  Halls,  with  ac- 
commodations for  one  hundred  and  thirty  students  and 
a  boarding  hall,  were  erected  in  1870-71.  The  first  build- 
ing erected,  however,  was  a  residence  for  Professor 
Alexander  Bartlett,  which  also  was  made  possible  by  a 
contribution  by  Mr.  Thaw.  Professor  Lamar  moved  into 
the  two  north  rooms  on  the  second  floor  of  Memorial 
Hall  in  the  autumn  of  1871,  when  the  hall  was  first  occu- 
pied by  students.  His  rooms  were  very  comfortable  and 
attractive,  very  different  from  any  that  Maryville  had 
ever  been  able  to  provide  up  to  that  time.  The  professor 
had  charge  of  the  young  men  who  occupied  the  building. 
He  remained  thus  in  charge  until  his  marriage  in  1874. 
The  three  main  buildings  were  well  built  after  plans  by 
Architect   Fanstock,   under   the   immediate   and   efficient 


6o  Thomas  Jkfferson  Lamar 

supervision  of   President    Bartlett,  who,   himself,  in  his 
youthful  days,  had  had  experience  as  a  builder. 

But  Unremitting  Toil  and  Cares.  The  building  of 
a  college  amid  the  hard  conditions  of  those  early  after- 
war  years  called  for  heroic  persistence  in  labors  and  heroic 
defiance  of  nerve-racking  cares.  Those  were  the  days  of 
divided  counsels  in  national  and  State  and  local  matters. 
Naturally  there  were  serious  diiterences  of  opinion  as  to 
college  policies.  And  among  other  burdens  borne  at  that 
time  of  testing  and  tension  was  that  of  litigation  regard- 
ing the  property  of  the  College,  which  was  instituted 
after  the  new  buildings  had  been  erected ;  it  extended 
over  eight  weary  years.  The  fact  that  the  College  was 
"in  Chancery"'  of  course  prevented  possible  donors  from 
contributing  to  an  endowment ;  and  all  that  the  college 
people  could  do,  was,  in  the  expressive  phrase  of  the 
English  in  the  latest  war,  "to  carry  on.''  And  with  it  all 
was  an  excessive  amount  of  work  in  the  class  room  and 
out  of  it,  in  a  school  that  was  prospering  in  the  attendance 
registered  but  not  in  the  means  of  paying  the  teachers. 
Countless  harassing  difficulties,  burning  heartaches,  and 
cruel  sacrifices  are  not  recorded  in  this  booklet,  nor  even 
in  the  knowledge  of  men ;  but  they  are  all  recorded  in 
God's  book  of  remembrance. 

For  Fourteen  Long  Years.  And  this  toil  and 
trouble  simmered  and  bubbled  in  the  caldron  from  1866 
till  1880,  with  little  intermission.  There  was  a  grievous 
wearing  away  of  nerves  and  endurance  during  those 
trying  years.  Had  it  not  been  for  the  loyal  support  and 
inspiring  sympathy  of  William  Thaw  and  \\  illiam  E. 
Dodge  throughout  those  weary  years,  the  burden  could 


A  College:  Builder  6i 

not  have  been  carried.  These  generous  friends  of  Chris- 
tian education  contributed  liberally  every  year  toward  the 
current  expenses  of  the  College,  their  benefactions  thus 
taking  the  place  of  an  endowment  until  the  endowment 
could  be  sought  and  secured.  The  panic  of  1873  inter- 
rupted these  annual  gifts ;  and  then,  had  it  not  been  that 
Professor  Lamar  and  President  Bartlett  were  willing  to 
teach  when  their  salaries  were  in  arrearages,  the  school 
would  have  had  to  be  closed.  Maryville  College  lives 
because  overworked  and  underpaid  professors  and  teach- 
ers have  stayed  by  the  stuff  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven's 
sake. 

Success!  Twro  Hundred  Students!  '  By  1880  the 
enrollment  of  students  had  arisen  to  two  hundred,  twice 
the  high  water  mark  of  the  ante-bellum  College.  And 
that  signified  the  success  of  Maryville's  lifelong  struggle 
to  do  good  on  a  larger  scale.  And  the  clientage  was 
becoming  a  wider  and  more  representative  one,  and  the 
enrollment  in  the  college  department  had  risen  to  thirty- 
two.  There  were  now  four  buildings,  a  spacious  campus, 
a  nucleus  of  $13,000  in  endowment,  and,  best  of  all,  what 
seemed  a  little  army  of  students,  at  this  loyal  West  Point 
of  Christian  education. 

But  Anxiety,  Deficit,  and  Debt.  The  builder  had 
built,  but  at  cost  to  himself,  even  to  the  shortening  of 
his  life.  But  not  yet  had  he  made  his  supreme  sacrifice 
for  the  College.  The  lack  of  adequate  income  to  pay  the 
teachers'  salaries  and  to  meet  the  increase  in  the  expenses 
of  the  institution  as  the  number  of  students  increased, 
taken  in  conjunction  with  the  coming  of  hard  times  to  the 
country,  made  it  inevitable  that  a  deficit  and,  consequently. 


62  Thomas  Je^fferson  Lamar 

a  debt  should  be  incurred.  There  was  but  one  safe  and 
prudent  way  to  provide  against  any  debt  and  deficit,  and 
that  was  to  secure  an  endowment  that  should  bring  in 
a  regular  income  that  could  be  applied  to  financing  the 
necessary  budget  of  the  institution.  This  had  long  been 
recognized  to  be  imperatively  the  next  advance  that  must 
be  made  by  the  College;  and  now  that  the  lawsuit  was 
disposed  of,  the  way  was  open  for  an  attempt  to  make  the 
advance. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

An  Endowment  Founder 

Endowment  or  Collapse!  Maryville  College  had 
now  grown  to  such  proportions,  and  was  so  steadily  en- 
larging its  proportions,  that  it  was  increasingly  and  con- 
vincingly evident  that  it  could  not  go  on  trusting  to  annual 
contributions  to  provide  for  its  growing  budget.  The 
panic  of  1873  had  for  several  years  cut  off  or  diminished 
the  annual  gifts  of  William  Thaw  and  William  E.  Dodge, 
and  the  occasional  gifts  of  others,  until,  in  spite  of  bitter 
retrenchment,  the  debt  amounted  in  1878  to  more  than 
ten  thousand  dollars.  Most  of  this  debt  was  due  to  Pro- 
fessor Lamar,  who  for  years  had  not  drawn  his  full  salary, 
and  had  even  advanced  money  for  the  necessary  expenses 
of  the  College.  The  faculty,  the  directors,  the  Synod,  and 
Professor  Lamar  all  realized  that  there  must  be  a  sub- 
stantial amount  of  endowment  raised,  or  a  collapse  must 
ensue.  And  when,  in  1880,  the  paralyzing  litigation  came 
to  an  end,  all  felt  that  the  crisis  must  be  faced  and  a 
desperate  attempt  to  secure  endowment  must  be  made. 
Fourteen  years  after  the  College  had  been  reopened,  there 
was  an  endowment  fund  of  only  thirteen  thousand  dol- 
lars. And  yet  the  necessary  expenditures  were  mounting 
higher  every  year. 

Enlistment  for  the  Forlorn  Hope.  At  a  meeting 
of  the  friends  of  the  institution  to  consider  the  matter, 
by  a  process  of  elimination  one  and  another  were  shown 
not  to  be  available  to  conduct  this  forlorn  hope  campaign ; 
and  then  some  one  turned  to  Professor  Lamar  and  said, 


64  Thomas  Jefferson  Lamar 

"Professor,  you  see  that  you  are  the  one  that  must  go." 
The  professor  turned  ashy  pale,  but  seemed  to  recognize 
the  apparent  necessity,  and,  ere  the  conference  closed, 
had  "enlisted  for  the  duration  of  the  war."  He  was  no 
coward,  or  he  would  not  have  consented  to  go;  his  soul 
shrank  from  the  dread  ordeal,  but,  like  his  Master,  for 
the  sake  of  others  he  would  go  into  the  darkness  of  the 
Garden  or  even  to  his  Golgotha. 

The  Task  an  Impossible  One.  One  hundred  thou- 
sand dollars — no  less — must  be  the  goal,  for  no  less  than 
six  thousand  dollars  a  year  must  be  added  to  the  college 
income  in  order  to  meet  the  expense  account.  But  how 
hopeless  to  seek  to  find  donors  for  this  vast  sum,  for  it 
was  indeed  vast  then,  when  large  gifts  to  education  were 
very  rare.  With  a  local  clientage  able  to  help  but  little, 
how  could  it  be  believed  that  strangers  of  another  section, 
who  had  never  seen  Maryville,  should  contribute  to  it  this 
preposterously  large  endowment?  How  could  a  modest 
school-teacher  of  Maryville,  Blount  county,  Tennessee, 
challenge  the  attention  and  gain  the  liberality  of  enough 
men  on  a  large  enough  scale  to  secure  for  this  little  and 
unknown  school  in  the  Southern  mountains  the  sum  of 
one  hundred  thousand  dollars?  The  task  was  palpably 
and  unquestionably  an  utterly  impossible  one.  That  is,  it 
was  impossible  with  men. 

The  Means,  a  Modest  Man.  The  timidity,  the  self- 
effacement,  and  yet  the  resolution  of  this  endowment- 
builder  are  revealed  in  the  following  extract  from  a  letter 
written  in  behalf  of  the  College:  *Tf  I  have  been  over- 
anxious," he  wrote,  "and  have  crossed  the  limits  of  deli- 
cacy and  propriety  in  urging  the  matter,  I  am  sure  your 


An  Endowment  Founder  65 

generous  nature  and  broad  Christian  spirit  will  readily 
overlook  and  forgive.  It  has  been  my  lot  in  life  to  work 
at  foundations  beneath  the  surface.  I  shall  never  expect 
to  rise  above  the  surface.  But,  then,  there  is,  in  the 
church  and  world,  need  of  men  to  work  below  the  sur- 
face, where  they  are  obscure  and  unknown.  And  if  they 
do  well  their  work,  they"  will  not  be  forgotten.  In  my 
time  I  shall  hardly  look  for  Maryville  College  to  rise  much 
above  the  surface,  but  if  we  can  lay  deep,  broad,  and  solid 
foundations,  others,  no  doubt,  will  rear  suitable  super- 
structures thereon."  Dr.  Carson  W.  Adams  said  of  him: 
**He  had  what  I  call  the  force  of  modesty,  combined  with 
faith  and  quiet  persistence,  that  led  him  to  success." 

The  Dynamics,  Faith  in  God.  In  his  shrinking  self- 
depreciation,  he  said  that  he  did  not  have  the  qualities 
needed  by  a  financial  agent  of  a  college.  He  certainly  did 
not  have  self-assurance  and  dash  and  egotism  and  callous- 
ness to  rebufiP,  and  similar  traits,  if  such  qualities  are 
requisite  to  make  an  ideal  endowment-founder;  but  he 
did  have  a  quality,  which,  joined  with  Christian  fidelity, 
God  can  use  to  work  miracles  with,  and  that  supreme  and 
vital  quality — faith  in  God — he  had  in  large  degree.  In 
confident  trust,  he  was  accustomed  to  submit  without  a 
murmur  to  God's  providences,  and  also  to  follow  God's 
guidance,  and,  in  it  all,  to  commit  his  way  unto  the  Lord, 
and  trust  also  in  him,  assured  that  he  would  bring  it  to 
pass.  And  this  faith,  we  may  well  believe,  may,  after 
all,  be  the  best  possible  dynamics  even  in  securing  college 
foundations ! 

A  Three  Years'  Struggle.     At  last  all  preparations 
were  completed,  and  the  professor  started,  on  Novcm- 

6 


66  Thomas  Jefferson  Lamar 

ber  17,  1880,  upon  his  forlorn  hope.  Less  than  a  month 
later  he  was  summoned  home  by  the  fatal  illness  of  his 
only  child.  Ralph  Max,  the  pride  of  his  heart,  died  on 
December  15,  a  few  days  after  the  heart-broken  father 
had  reached  home.  Surely  now  he  would  give  up  his 
unwelcome  task  as  financial  representative  of  the  College. 
No!  a  month  later,  on  January  19,  1881,  he  set  out  again, 
this  time  accompanied  by  his  wife.  The  first  year  he 
was  in  the  field  for  seven  months,  and  secured  pledges 
for  $65,000— $25,000  from  Mr.  Dodge,  $20,000  from 
Mr.  Thaw,  and  $20,000  from  Mr.  Smith — on  condition 
that  $100,000  be  secured  by  the  end  of  the  year.  Little 
more  was  secured  during  the  year,  but  the  time  limit  was 
extended  by  the  subscribers.  The  second  year,  1882,  Mr. 
Lamar  spent  two  and  a  half  months  in  the  field,  but  only 
small  subscriptions  were  secured.  The  third  year  wit- 
nessed the  death  of  William  E.  Dodge,  true  friend  of 
the  College  in  a  critical  time  in  its  history.  His  family 
assumed  the  subscription  of  $25,000  made  by  Mr.  Dodge 
and  renewed  in  his  will,  and  still  further  extended  the 
time  limit. 

The  Cost  of  the  Campaign.  The  financial  cost  of 
the  campaign  as  conducted  with  extreme  economy  by  Pro- 
fessor Lamar  was  almost  incredibly  low — only  $702 ;  but 
the  cost  in  other  respects  was  excessive.  The  cost  in  com- 
fort was  very  heavy.  For  one  of  so  retiring  a  nature  as 
was  Professor  Lamar's,  it  was  a  crucifixion  to  have  to 
approach  strangers  for  financial  help.  And  this  pain  was 
suffered  not  merely  while  he  was  in  the  field,  but  also 
so  long  as  the  necessity  to  seek  out  such  possible  donors 
rested  over  him  as  a  gloomy  pall.     For  three  long  years 


An  Endowment  Founder  67 

he  was  in  inquisitorial  torments.  The  cost  in  courage  was 
very  great.  Day  after  day  he  was  forced  to  approach 
men  who  were  strangers  to  him  and  to  his  cause ;  and  the 
loss  of  nerve  power  expended  day  after  day,  in  screwing 
his  courage  to  the  sticking  point,  told  seriously  against 
him  when,  ere  long,  the  break-down  came.  No  soldier 
on  the  battlefield  ever  exhibited  a  higher  type  of  valor 
than  he  showed  in  this  battle  for  Maryville  and  the  Chris- 
tian education  of  his  people.  No  one  but  God  and  him- 
self knew  how  painful  were  the  experiences  of  those  three 
years.  However,  he  flinched  not,  because  he  was  a  good 
soldier  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  he  had  received  his  orders 
from  his  Lord  and  Master. 

Nothing  Impossible  with  God.  One  November  night 
in  1 88 1,  he  wrote  home  from  New  York,  telling  a  col- 
league of  his  experiences.  After  recounting  some  griev- 
ous disappointments,  he  added:  '1  am  out  every  day 
calling  on  men,  but  as  yet  finding  no  response.  All  is 
darkness  and  uncertainty.  I  can  not  walk  by  sight.  But 
I  am  here,  and  I  know  no  better  way  than  to  keep  try- 
ing and  do  my  duty  as  best  I  can,  and  trust  God  for  the 
issue.  But  let  us  not  despair ;  let  us  hope  and  work  on. 
According  to  our  resources,  we  are  doing  as  much  good, 
I  candidly  believe,  as  any  institution  in  our  country ;  and 
we  have  a  right  to  believe  that  God  will  help  us,  and  make 
perfect  his  power  in  our  weakness.  I  do  not  think  that 
in  anything  I  have  ever  before  undertaken,  have  I  had 
such  a  felt  need  as  now  of  divine  guidance,  support,  and 
help.  I  sometimes  feel  that  for  this  special  work  I  am 
without  wisdom,  strength,  tact,  or  fitness.  What  has  been 
done,  and  what  may  be  done,  is,  and  must  be,  of  God 


68  Thomas  Je^fi^erson  Lamar 

only.  May  we  all  feel  how  absolutely  dependent  we  are 
on  him,  and  take  hope  and  courage  from  the  fact  that 
with  God  nothing  shall  be  impossible!" 

His  Helpers.  In  the  terribly  depressing  loneliness 
that  came  to  him  as  he  was  among  strangers,  it  seemed 
sometimes  as  if  no  one  took  his  part,  and  that  all  forsook 
him;  but,  like  Paul,  he  could  say:  "But  the  Lord  stood 
by  me,  and  strengthened  me."  And  he  found  to  his  com- 
fort that  there  were  those  who  proved  themselves  true 
and  tried  brethren  indeed.  Among  them  were  the  four 
chief  subscribers  to  the  endowment,  and  Drs.  Henry 
Kendall,  Henry  A.  Nelson,  Thomas  S.  Hastings,  and 
Edward  D.  Morris.  They  carried  his  burdens  on  their 
own  hearts,  and  their  sympathy  and  help  greatly  encour- 
aged him  in  his  gigantic  task.  The  many  letters  inter- 
changed by  these  Christian  men  during  this  period  were 
full  of  loyal  interest  and  brotherly  love.  These  friends 
highly  esteemed  the  modest  and  devoted  champion  of 
Christian  education  for  the  youth  of  East  Tennessee,  and 
they  did  what  they  could  for  him  and  his  cause. 

The  Donors.  There  were,  however,  no  persons  more 
interested  in  the  success  of  the  endowment  campaign  than 
were  the  four  men  who  subscribed  the  largest  amounts 
to  the  fund.  Mr.  Baldwin  had  died  before  the  fund  was 
begun.  Mr.  Thaw,  Mr.  Dodge,  and  Mr.  Smith  all  exhib- 
ited the  keenest  personal  interest  in  the  progress  of  the 
campaign  and  the  liveliest  desire  for  its  success.  In  this 
attitude  they  were  joined  by  Dr.  Sylvester  Willard,  of 
Auburn,  New  York,  who  also  subscribed  liberally  to  the 
fund.  Personal  regard  for  the  brave  but  modest  leader 
from  East  Tennessee  was  united  with  warm  sympathy 


WILLIAM    THAVi/ 


WILLIAM  £.DO0&e 


PRESERVED  SMJTH 


John  c.  SALtfwiN 


Rebuilders  of  JMaryville  College. 


An  Endowment  Founde^r  69 

for  the  young  people  of  that  section.  And  they  gave,  and 
prayed,  and  used  their  influence  that  success  might  crown 
Professor  Lamar's  faithful  efforts.  The  interest  that 
Mr.  Thaw  felt  in  Maryville  may  be  inferred  from  the  fact 
that  up  to  January,  1882,  his  gifts  to  the  College  for  cur- 
rent expenses,  made  since  he  began  giving  to  it  in  1867, 
amounted  to  $22,500,  nearly  as  much  as  his  subscription 
of  $25,000  to  the  permanent  endowment  fund.  And  sev- 
eral donors  of  smaller  amounts  also  greatly  strengthened 
Professor  Lamar's  hands  in  his  efforts  to  complete  his 
appointed  task. 

The  Day  of  Victory.  Even  three  such  years  as  were 
those  dreary  years  of  struggle  come  to  an  end  if  only  one 
lives  on  and  fights  on.  And,  at  last,  the  last  day  of  the 
year  of  our  Lord,  1883,  had  come,  and  Professor  Lamar, 
the  last  interview  over,  the  last  letter  written,  but  not  the 
last  prayer  offered,  was  sitting  in  Dr.  Kendall's  office  at 
23  Centre  street.  New  York,  his  endowment  fund  yet 
lacking  ten  thousand  dollars  to  complete  it.  The  time 
limit  of  the  subscriptions  was  to  be  midnight  of  that  day. 
Man's  extremity,  as  usual,  was  God's  opportunity.  While 
the  professor  was  sitting  there  in  great  anxiety,  a  tele- 
gram was  handed  him  from  Mr.  Thaw  adding  $5,000  to 
his  former  subscription.  And  then,  as  another  crowning 
providence,  a  telegram  from  Dr.  Willard,  adding  $5,000 
to  his  previous  gift  of  $5,000,  brought  to  the  heavy-laden 
professor  such  a  release  from  his  anxious  tension  that  he 
was  almost  overcome.  Praise  and  thanksgiving  rose  to 
God,  the  giver  of  the  victory,  and  the  news  of  the  victory 
was  telegraphed  to  the  waiting  friends  at  Maryville.  The 
greatest  day  in  the  history  of  Maryville  had  come,  and 


70  Thomas  Jefferson  Lamar 

the  school  had  waited  sixty- four  years  for  it  to  come! 
God's  providence  had  made  possible  a  greater  Maryville. 
The  $100,000  meant  as  much  then  as  many  times  that 
amount  would  mean  now. 

Hallelujah!  The  almost  ecstatic  joy  in  the  victory 
was  well  expressed  in  a  letter  written  on  New  Year's 
Day,  1884,  to  Professor  Lamar  by  Dr.  Henry  A.  Nelson. 
He  said:  "I  trust  Kendall  slept  last  night.  I  lay  awake 
a  good  deal  with  thankful  joy.  I  think  of  the  thankful 
joy  that  has  filled  so  many  dear,  patient  souls  in  Ten- 
nessee, and  my  heart  runs  over  with  the  fullness  of  con- 
tent! Hallelujah!  God  bless  Thaw  and  Willard.  By  the 
way.  Thaw  got  the  'Key-stone'  after  all,  did  not  he?  I 
know,  dear  Lamar,  that  you  are  supremely  happy.  God 
give  you  yet  many  years  of  fruitful  work  in  your  dear 
College."  And  happy  Dr.  Willard  wrote  as  follows: 
"When  Dr.  Kendall  informed  me  by  telegraph  that  in 
a  few  hours  ninety-five  thousand  dollars  of  conditioned 
contributions  would  be  lost  for  lack  of  five  thousand  dol- 
lars to  bind  the  contract,  I  thought  it  a  good  business 
transaction  to  gain  ninety-five  thousand  dollars  by  paying 
five  thousand  dollars.  I  trust  that  no  one  will  charge 
me  with  taking  usury  by  such  unwonted  per  cent!  In 
blessing  others  may  you  be  fully  blest !"  Dr.  Carson  W. 
Adams  added  his  congratulations  in  hearty  form :  "Well, 
patience,  perseverance,  and  faith  do  accomplish  great 
things !  I  had  almost  begun  to  despair.  The  new  year 
must  have  begun  very  brightly  with  you  at  Maryville. 
Your  work  in  life  has  been  one  which  ought  to  give  you 
great  satisfaction.  Within  the  past  twenty  years  you  were 
all  there  was  of  Maryville  College.     You  are  the  second 


An  Endowment  Founder  71 

father  of  the  College.  Your  name  must  in  all  the  future 
be  coupled  with  that  of  Dr.  Anderson.  You  not  only 
began  the  work  of  the  College  anew ;  but  now  have  com- 
pleted so  much  of  an  endowment  as  to  insure  its  success 
in  the  future ;  and  the  amount  of  money  now  secured  will 
attract  other  funds  to  your  institution.  What  a  witness 
to  the  power  of  quiet,  persistent  energy  over  fuss  and 
feathers  your  success  is!" 

The  Supreme  Sacrifice.  The  first  month  of  the  cam- 
paign for  the  endowment  was  saddened  by  the  death  of 
little  Ralph  Max  Lamar;  the  last  month,  by  the  sudden 
death  of  Professor  Alexander  Bartlett,  after  sixteen  years 
of  faithful  service  as  a  professor  at  Maryville.  The 
campaign  was  to  be  followed  ere  long  by  the  death  of 
the  devoted  man,  who,  under  Providence,  had  carried  it 
through  to  a  victorious  issue.  Professor  Lamar  returned 
from  New  York  and  resumed  his  position  in  the  class 
room,  but  his  vital  forces,  never  very  vigorous,  had  under- 
gone a  terrific  strain  from  which  they  were  unable  to 
recover.  He  found  much  to  do  in  collecting  the  subscrip- 
tions and  in  helping  reorganize  the  College  on  the  new 
basis  that  was  made  possible  by  the  endowment.  This 
with  the  class-room  work  he  greatly  enjoyed,  but  his 
strength  began  to  ebb  away.  He  kept  at  his  work  from 
his  return  in  January,  1884,  until  commencement  in  1886, 
but  his  decline  in  health  became  so  pronounced  that  he 
w^as  compelled,  in  the  summer  of  1886,  to  give  up  his 
work  and  he  became  a  prisoner  in  the  sick  room.  During 
that  summer  and  fall  and  winter  his  decline  continued, 
until,  on  Sabbath  morning,  March  20,  1887,  his  tired 
heart  ceased  its  beating. 


72  Thomas  Je^i^ERson  Lamar 

Post-Mortem  Endowment  Building.  Professor  La- 
mar, being  dead,  yet  buildeth.  During  his  ten  months' 
imprisonment,  his  thoughts  often  dwelt  on  the  need  of 
further  endowment.  With  the  faith  and  vision  of  a 
prophet,  he  said  to  those  with  whom  he  conversed  regard- 
ing the  matter,  that,  while  $100,000  would  take  care  of 
the  beginnings  of  the  work  at  Maryville,  the  sum  of 
$500,000  would  soon  be  needed  to  take  care  of  what 
Maryville  would  develop  to  be.  And  with  heroic  courage, 
he  said  that,  if  he  recovered,  he  would  attempt  the  task 
of  securing  that  immense  sum.  Although  God  kindly 
gave  him  rest  from  such  distressing  labors,  those  who 
took  up  his  work  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  this  dream 
of  his  realized.  Under  the  providence  of  God  his  labors 
were  carried  forward  by  his  boys  and  by  those  who  came 
to  their  aid;  and  in  a  very  real  sense  he  helped  his  suc- 
cessors gather  these  post-mortem  endowments.  He  built 
more  widely,  as  well  as  more  wisely,  than  he  dreamed; 
indeed,  he  is  yet  building  for  Maryville. 


CHAPTER  IX 
A  Home-Loving  Man 

His  College  Home.  Professor  Lamar  was  preemi- 
nently a  home-loving  man.  As  a  boy  he  had  loved  his 
Jefferson  county  home;  and,  indeed,  he  never  lost  his 
love  for  it.  But  naturally  his  college  home  at  Maryville 
became  his  real  life-home  and  the  one  that  was  dearest  to 
him.  As  student,  alumnus,  professor,  and  rebuilder  of 
Maryville  College  he  loved  his  ''dear  college  home";  and 
wherever  he  went,  his  heart,  untraveled,  fondly  turned  to 
it,  and  "dragged  at  each  remove  a  lengthening  chain."  It 
was  here,  that,  in  the  providence  of  God,  he  spent  most 
of  his  life. 

His  Missouri  Home.  It  was  in  Missouri,  however, 
near  the  homes  of  his  parents  and  brothers  and  sisters, 
that  he  established  his  first  home  after  completing  his 
education.  From  the  theological  seminary  in  New  York, 
as  we  have  seen,  he  made  his  way  westward  to  Weston, 
Missouri,  the  home  of  the  family.  Here,  amid  his  rel- 
atives, he  made  his  own  home  during  the  next  three 
years,  in  which  he  served  as  a  minister  in  and  around 
Weston.  And  very  pleasant  were  these  years  of  reunion 
with  his  kindred,  from  whom  he  had  been  separated  for 
so  long  a  period.  But  it  was  time,  now  that  he  was 
engaged  in  his  life-work,  that  he  should  have,  in  its  truest 
sense,  a  home  of  his  own. 

His  Savannah  Providence.  It  has  already  been 
stated  that,  at  the  intercession  of  his  old  Maryville  Col- 
lege friend,  Rev.  Elijah  A.  Carson,  of  Savannah,  Andrew 


74  Thomas  Jefferson  Lamar 

county,  Missouri,  Mr.  Laniar  removed  to  Savannah  in 
1855,  and  took  charge  of  the  academy  at  that  place,  and 
took  part  in  the  work  of  the  ministry  in  the  surrounding 
country.  It  was  while  here  that  he  met,  at  the  home  of 
Mr.  Carson,  a  lady  whose  charms  and  virtues  ere  long 
won  his  regard  and  affection.  This  "elegant  and  accom- 
plished lady,"  as  one  described  her,  was  the  young  widow 
of  Simon  McDonald,  M.D.,  a  physician  of  Savannah. 
Mrs.  Martha  Elizabeth  McDonald — her  maiden  name 
was  Arnold — was  born  on  November  16,  1830,  and  so 
was  then  only  twenty-four  years  old.  She  was  a  very 
attractive  and  lovable  young  woman.  It  was  not  strange 
that  these  young  people  should  be  drawn  together  by  their 
common  interests  and  by  the  worthy  character  each  sa\\^ 
in  the  other  to  admire;  and  that  they  should  decide  to 
establish  together  a  home,  to  be  theirs  until  they  should 
be  separated  by  death. 

A  Home  of  His  Ov^^n.  The  childhood  home  of  Mrs. 
McDonald  had  been  near  Liberty,  the  county  seat  of  Clay 
county,  in  a  rich  farming  region,  located  about  five  miles 
from  the  Missouri  river  and  about  ten  miles  distant  from 
Kansas  City.  It  was  at  Liberty  that,  on  October  23,  1855, 
Rev.  Elijah  A.  Carson,  the  old  friend  of  both  contracting 
parties,  performed  the  service  that  united  Rev.  Thomas 
Jefferson  Lamar  in  marriage  with  Mrs.  Martha  Elizabeth 
McDonald.  And  now  an  ideal  home  was  established  at 
Savannah — a  home  in  which  mutual  love  was  safeguarded 
and  sanctified  by  the  love  of  God.  For  nearly  two  years 
this  happy  home  continued,  and  then  was  closed  only  to 
be  reopened  at  Maryville,  where  Mr.  Lamar  was  then 
called  to  labor. 


A  Home-Loving  Man  75 

Little  Katie.  On  February  3,  1857,  there  was  born 
into  the  new  home  at  Savannah  a  Httle  one  whom  they 
named  Mary  Kate.  Little  Katie  was  an  invalid  child  and 
was  a  charge,  at  first  to  both  parents,  and  three  years 
later,  when  her  mother  died,  to  her  father,  who  devoted 
much  of  his  time  to  taking  care  of  her.  "She  found  a 
warm  place  in  his  heart."  "He  had  for  her  a  very  pecu- 
liar and  tender  affection,"  an  affection  that  was  at  once 
paternal  and  maternal,  for  he  had  to  make  up  to  her  the 
loss  of  her  mother.  Little  Katie  was  only  a  few  months 
old  when  Mr.  Lamar  brought  her  and  her  mother  from 
Missouri  to  Tennessee,  when  he  came  to  enter  upon  the 
professorship  at  Maryville  to  which  he  had  been  ap- 
pointed; and  the  little  girl  lived  until  1870,  when  she  died 
of  measles,  at  the  age  of  almost  thirteen  years.  After 
the  death  of  his  wife.  Professor  Lamar  found  an  ideal 
home  for  his  child  and  himself  about  a  mile  from  Mary- 
ville in  the  home  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Rankin  Duncan,  the 
parents  of  Dr.  Calvin  A.  Duncan,  John  P.  Duncan,  and 
Mrs.  Jennie  Duncan  Crawford.  Here  during  the  dark 
days  of  the  Civil  War  and  the  dismal  days  that  followed, 
the  widowed  father  cared  tenderly  for  the  little  girl  who 
had  been  left  in  his  charge. 

The  Home  Broken  Up.  In  the  summer  of  1857,  the 
Lamar  home  was  set  up  in  Maryville  in  the  house  at  the 
corner  of  High  and  College  streets  that  is  now  the  manse 
belonging  to  New  Providence  Church.  For  nearly  three 
years  Mrs.  Lamar  shared,  at  Maryville,  with  her  husband 
the  cares  of  their  child  and  of  the  home,  and  sympathized 
and  cooperated  with  him  in  his  college  work.  Into  this 
home  there  was  born,  on  February  16,  i860,  a  daughter. 


7^  Thomas  Jki^i^^ERSon  Lamar 

whom  Professor  Lamar  named  Martha  Elizabeth,  in 
honor  of  her  mother.  But  both  mother  and  child  soon 
went  into  a  decline,  and  before  the  summer  was  well 
advanced,  they  were  both  laid  away  in  the  New  Provi- 
dence cemetery,  the  babe  dying  on  June  ii,  and  the 
mother  on  June  12.  Thus,  at  only  twenty-nine  years  of 
age,  was  the  young  mother  taken  from  the  home  which 
she  had  made  happy  by  her  presence  and  love.  Nearly 
ten  years  later,  on  January  10,  1870,  at  the  Duncan  home, 
Katie,  the  other  member  of  the  little  family,  was  taken 
from  her  father.  His  grief  was  poignant.  When  the 
last  struggle  was  over,  the  professor  took  a  loving  and 
agonized  look  at  the  little  form  and  walked  sadly  out  of 
the  room,  a  lonelier  man  than  ever. 

A  Loving  Nature.  Professor  Lamar  was  so  quiet  a 
man  in  his  make-up  that  those  that  did  not  know  him 
well  sometimes  made  the  mistake  of  judging  him  cold  and 
unresponsive.  The  fact  is,  as  has  been  said  before,  he 
had  a  peculiarly  loving  and  sympathetic  nature,  as  all  dis- 
covered who  had  at  all  intimate  relations  with  him.  He 
reached  the  Duncan  home,  on  his  return  from  a  trip  to 
visit  his  Missouri  relatives,  on  April  25,  1864,  the  day 
that  Rankin  Duncan  passed  away.  And  his  sympathy 
was  that  of  a  kinsman.  For  a  year  or  more  he  had  with 
him  at  his  home  at  Mrs.  Duncan's  two  young  kinsmen, 
Gazaway  B.  Lamar  and  John  Basil  Lamar,  brothers,  from 
Georgia.  He  took  as  much  interest  in  the  lads  as  if  they 
had  been  his  own  sons,  and  when  one  of  them  sickened 
and  died,  his  heart  was  sorely  grieved.  Only  those  near- 
est to  him  in  the  life  of  the  home  realized  what  depths 
of  tenderness  there  were  hidden  in  his  nature. 


Mrs.  Martha  A.  Lamar. 


m     ^ 


>. 


% 


Ralph  Max  Lamar. 


A  Home-Loving  Man  ^'j 

"Uncle  Tommie."  Mr.  James  Gillespie,  who  gradu- 
ated the  year  after  Mr.  Lamar  did,  says  in  his  reminis- 
cences that  even  in  those  days  Mr.  Lamar  was  called 
''Uncle  Tom"  by  his  fellow-students.  The  writer  also 
recalls  that  while  the  professor's  nieces,  Georgia  and 
Lizzie  Tommie  Brady,  daughters  of  his  sister  Ehza,  of 
Weston,  Missouri,  were  students  at  Maryville,  in  1874-75, 
they  were  accustomed  to  call  the  professor  "Uncle  Tom." 
The  students  lovingly  took  up  the  appellation,  and  trom 
that  time  onward  the  different  generations  of  students 
claimed  their  personal  relationship  with  the  professor  by 
also  calling  him  ''Uncle  Tommie."  And  he  enjoyed  the 
title,  and  retaliated  by  treating  the  boys  and  girls  more 
like  sons  and  daughters  than  like  nephews  and  nieces. 

A  Home  Again.  Fourteen  years  had  passed  after 
the  death  of  his  first  wife,  before  he  reestablished  his 
home.  On  June  i,  1874,  he  was  united  in  marriage  with 
Miss  Martha  Ann  Ted  ford,  the  ceremony  being  per- 
formed by  Rev.  Alexander  Bartlett,  pastor  of  the  bride, 
at  her  father's  home  on  College  Hill.  Professor  Lamar 
once  said  that  the  only  women  he  had  loved  were  both 
named  Martha,  and  that  he  had  married  them  both !  And 
a  happy  home  he  found  in  his  new  relationship. 

Mrs.  Lamar's  Father.  Rev.  Ralph  Erskine  Ted- 
ford,  the  father  of  Mrs.  Lamar,  received  his  college  and 
seminary  education  at  Maryville  under  Dr.  Isaac  Ander- 
son. He  was  licensed  to  preach  the  gospel  by  the  Presby- 
tery of  Union  on  October  3,  1832,  and  was  ordained  by 
the  same  presbytery  on  April  3,  1834.  He  spent  his  min- 
istry principally  in  Bradley  county,  Tennessee.  Several 
churches,    including   the   one   at   Cleveland,    owed   their 


7^  Thomas  Jefferson  Lamar 

organization  to  his  labors.  At  times  he  had  the  very  great 
pleasure  of  having  with  him  at  his  camp-meeting  services 
his  beloved  teacher,  Dr.  Anderson,  who  said  to  him: 
"Nothing  pleases  me  more  than  the  opportunity  to  visit 
and  assist  my  young  brethren  in  the  ministry."  Mr.  Ted- 
ford  spent  the  last  years  of  his  life  at  Maryville,  where 
he  died,  on  August  23,  1878,  at  the  home  of  his  daughter 
on  College  Hill.  His  father  and  mother,  Joseph  Tedford 
and  Mary  McNutt,  were  among  the  pioneers  who  emi- 
grated from  Rockbridge  county,  Virginia,  to  the  wilds 
of  eastern  Tennessee.  Dr.  Anderson's  home  was  also  in 
Rockbridge  county;  and  the  Ted  fords,  McNutts,  and 
Andersons  attended  the  same  church.  It  was  a  remark- 
able coincidence  that  Mrs.  Mary  McNutt  Tedford  heard 
both  the  first  sermon  and  the  last  sermon  preached  by 
Dr.  Anderson.  The  Anderson  family  came  to  East  Ten- 
nessee some  time  later.  Soon  after  the  arrival  of  the 
Tedford  and  McNutt  families  in  what  is  now  Blount 
county,  they  were  compelled,  on  account  of  the  hostility 
of  the  Indians,  to  take  refuge  in  a  fort  which  stood 
where  Mrs.  George's  residence  on  Washington  Avenue 
now  stands,  just  above  the  bold,  crystal  spring  that  is 
the  pride  of  Maryville  In  this  fort,  Joseph  Tedford  and 
Mary  McNutt  were  married  by  Rev.  William  Cummings. 
After  hostilities  ceased,  the  newly  married  pair  located 
two  miles  south  of  Maryville,  on  a  farm  extending  up  to 
the  Niles  Ferry  Road  and  beyond  it,  and  now  adorned 
with  a  number  of  beautiful  homes ;  and  there  they  built 
their  ^'cottage  in  the  wilderness."  Ten  children  came  to 
this  home,  six  sons  and  four  daughters,  Ralph  Erskine 
being  the  eighth  child.  This  was  a  godly  home,  the  Bible 
being  its  rule  and  guide. 


A  HoMK-LoviNG  Man  79 

Mrs.  Lamar's  Mother.  Mr.  Tedford's  wife's  maiden 
name  was  Malinda  Gillespie  Houston,  one  of  the  twelve 
daughters  of  Major  James  Houston,  six  of  whom  mar- 
ried Presbyterian  ministers.  As  we  have  seen,  theology 
was  taught  in  Maryville  College  in  those  early  days,  and 
the  six  young  theologues  whose  names  are  here  given 
wooed  and  won  six  of  Major  Houston's  fair  daughters : 
James  Gallaher,  the  noted  evangelist,  William  Woods, 
John  Sawyer  Craig,  long  a  professor  in  Maryville  College, 
Haywood  Bennett,  Hillary  Patrick,  and  Ralph  Erskine 
Tedford.  Mr.  Gallaher  was  the  only  one  of  this  number 
not  educated  at  Maryville.  Mrs.  Lamar's  mother  was 
first  cousin  of  the  hero  of  San  Jacinto,  General  Sam 
Houston.  Mrs.  Lamar's  maternal  grandfather,  Major 
Houston,  was  very  active  in  the  Indian  wars  in  East  Ten- 
nessee in  those  pioneer  days.  With  a  little  garrison  of 
frontiersmen  he  resisted  an  attack  of  hostile  Indians  at  a 
point  a  few  miles  south  of  Maryville.  In  honor  of  his 
bravery,  the  fort  there  established  was  called  "the  Hous- 
ton Fort."  Major  Houston  held  offices  of  trust  in  his 
home  county,  and  at  one  time  served  as  Secretary  of  State 
for  Tennessee. 

Mrs.  Lamar's  Brothers.  Mrs.  Lamar's  brother,  Jo- 
seph Patton  Tedford,  was  one  of  the  original  thirteen 
students  at  the  opening  of  the  College  after  the  Civil 
War.  Dr.  Calvin  A.  Dimcan,  who  was  one  of  his  class- 
mates, and  is  still  active  in  his  work  of  the  gospel  minis- 
try, speaks  of  "Joe"  as  a  very  promising  boy,  a  good 
writer,  a  logical  debater,  and  a  diligent  student.  Joe's 
last  work  in  College  was  an  oration  on  "The  Ravages  of 
Time,"  delivered  in  the  Animi  Cultus  Hall  on  June  15, 


8o  Thomas  Jefferson  Lamar 

1868.  Little  did  his  dear  ones  who  were  present  at  that 
commencement  exercise  think  that  he  would  so  soon  fall 
victim  to  the  ravages  of  tmie.  His  last  effort  was  on  the 
following  Fourth  of  July,  when  he  was  one  of  the  speak- 
ers on  the  old  Everett  Hill  in  northeast  Maryville,  where 
hundreds  of  East  Tennessee's  loyal  sons  and  daughters 
were  gathered  to  celebrate  the  day.  Mrs.  Lamar's  oldest 
brother,  James  Wisner,  was  also  a  student  of  the  College, 
and  was  a  classmate  of  the  late  Charles  T.  Cates,  Senior. 
In  1852,  when  in  his  fourteenth  year,  he  was  taken  away 
by  death.  He  had  been  a  member  of  the  Beth-Hacma 
Literary  Society,  and  the  society  adopted  resolutions 
appreciative  of  his  life  and  character. 

The  Wedding  Tour.  Mrs.  Lamar  gives  the  follow- 
ing account,  from  notes  by  the  way,  of  the  wedding  tour: 
''Following  the  wedding,  w^e  started  on  a  tour  to  the 
East.  We  visited  Washington  City,  where  we  spent  four 
days;  Baltimore,  a  week  with  relatives;  Philadelphia,  with 
its  Girard  College  and  Independence  Hall ;  New  York 
City,  for  nearly  two  weeks ;  then  up  the  historic  Hudson, 
with  its  shores  rich  in  legends,  to  Albany ;  then  the  cele- 
brated Vick  flower  gardens;  from  there  to  Niagara  Falls 
for  two  days,  and  then  across  the  suspension  bridge  into 
good  Queen  Victoria's  dominion,  and  an  all  night's  jour- 
ney in  Canada,  arriving  at  Detroit  for  breakfast  on  the 
morning  of  the  Fourth  of  July;  thence  to  Chicago;  and 
thence  to  St.  Louis,  where  Miss  Badgley,  a  teacher  in 
the  College  who  was  at  our  wedding,  guided  us  through 
Shaw's  Botanical  Gardens.  And  now,  after  two  months 
of  intensely  interesting  travel  and  sight-seeing,  we  started 
westward  to  visit  the  brothers  and  sisters  of  Mr.  Lamar, 


Maplecroft— Mrs.  Lamar's  Residence. 


A  HoMK-LoviNG  Man  8i 

twelve  of  whom  were  living  on  or  near  the  old  paternal 
homestead  in  Platte  county,  Missouri;  and  right  royally 
did  they  welcome  us.  After  a  visit  and  reunion  of  a 
month's  duration,  we  packed  our  trunks  and  turned  our 
faces  homeward  to  dear  old  Maryville,  East  Tennessee. 
On  the  afternoon  of  August  23,  we  reached  our  home  on 
College  Hill,  after  an  absence  of  nearly  three  months. 
Here  Mr.  Lamar  took  up  again  his  college  work.  He  was 
so  happy  to  have  a  home  again,  and  he  said:  'Ours  is, 
indeed,  an  ideal  home ;'  but  those  nearest  to  him  said  that 
it  was  he  who  made  it  so  by  his  tender  thought  fulness 
and  kindly  ministrations." 

The  Advent  of  Little  Ralph  Max.  Into  this  happy 
home  came,  by  the  blessing  of  God,  a  little  son,  Ralph 
Max,  born  to  the  rejoicing  parents,  on  November  7,  1878. 
They  called  him  Ralph  for  his  maternal  grandfather  and 
Max  for  Max  Mueller,  the  eminent  orientalist  and  philol- 
ogist, whose  works  in  his  library  Professor  Lamar  greatly 
prized.  And  so  the  home  was  illumined  with  the  joys  of 
parenthood  and  its  happiness  was  complete. 

The  Stay  of  Ralph  Max.  And  the  little  lad  devel- 
oped and  became  a  stout  and  sturdy  boy.  And  his  bright 
and  responsive  nature  called  forth  all  the  love  of  his 
parents'  hearts.  He  was  naturally  the  center  of  the  little 
home.  His  father  playfully  tried  to  teach  him  the  Greek 
alphabet  and  his  mother  drilled  him  with  the  words  of 
love  treasured  in  his  mother  tongue;  and  his  childish 
prattle  and  boyhood  glee  filled  the  house  with  music. 
And  the  parents  had  day-dreams  of  his  future  and  of 
the  time  when  he  should  carry  forward  his  share  of  the 
world's  work  in  his  father's  stead.  And  prayers  were 
6 


82  Thomas  Je:fferson  Lamar 

offered  to  God,  in  his  behalf,  and  praise  was  rendered  to 
God  for  the  giving  of  him.  And  the  child  grew  to  be 
two  years  of  age,  and  the  future  was  before  him. 

The  Departure  of  Ralph  Max.  But  the  tragic,  in- 
exorable, and  inexplicable  day  came  when  Ralph  Max 
was  not,  for  God  had  taken  him.  On  November  17,  1880, 
his  father  had  torn  himself  away  from  home  joys  and 
home  comforts  to  go  to  New  York  to  begin  the  campaign 
for  the  endowment  of  the  College.  On  December  7,  just 
a  month  after  Ralph's  second  birthday,  President  Bartlett 
telegraphed  him,  "Ralph  is  sick.  Doctor  hopeful.  Your 
wife  says,  Come  home."  It  was  meningitis  that  was  the 
cruel  death  messenger.  The  heart-broken  father  reached 
home  in  time  to  be  with  his  child  a  few  days  before  his 
death.  On  December  15,  1880,  the  little  one  was  taken 
home  by  the  heavenly  Father.  It  required  nothing  less 
than  the  sustaining  power  of  God  and  unyielding  faith 
in  his  holy  providence  that  ruleth  over  all  to  enable  the 
prostrated  father  and  mother  to  sustain  the  crushing 
blow.  But  by  God's  prevalent  grace,  each  was  enabled  to 
say,  ''Though  he  slay  me,  yet  will  I  trust  in  him." 

Partnership  in  Sorrow.  The  sorrowing  parents  laid 
away  their  dead,  and  then  together  journeyed  to  New 
York  to  carry  forward  the  life-work  that  must  go  on, 
no  matter  how  many  heart-strings  are  broken.  And  they 
sought  to  comfort  one  another,  and  to  bear  one  another's 
burdens,  and  so  fulfill  the  law  of  Christ.  And  as  they 
passed  through  what  was  to  them  a  Gethsemane,  they  met 
their  Lord  amid  its  deepest  shadows.  Thus  companion- 
ship in  grief  proved  also  to  lead  to  companionship  in  con- 
solation.    And  in  their  home,  though,   for  the  time,  it 


A  Home:-Loving  Man  83 

was  removed  to  a  New  York  boarding  house,  they  found 
together  the  strength  to  continue  on  their  pilgrim  way 
submissive  and  resolute  and  hopeful. 

The  Last  Home-Coming.  January  i,  1884,  was  a 
day  of  great  rejoicing  over  the  success  of  the  endow- 
ment campaign,  but  the  letting  up  of  the  strain  revealed 
the  greatness  of  the  cost  of  the  victory.  The  tinie  was 
approaching  when  this  home-loving  man  was  to  be  called 
to  his  heavenly  home.  His  constitution  had  been  broken 
by  the  many  years  of  intense  care  and  anxiety,  with  their 
climax  in  the  dread  three  years  of  the  endowment  cam- 
paign. When  he  laid  aside  his  text-books  after  the  exami- 
nations in  May,  1886,  he  laid  them  aside  forever.  For 
ten  months  thereafter  the  decline  was  constant.  During 
the  last  ten  days  of  his  life  it  was  evident  that  the  end 
was  approaching.  He  wished  to  live  for  the  sake  of  his 
three  loves — his  companion,  his  church,  and  his  college; 
and  he  hoped  up  to  the  very  last  that  he  might  be  per- 
mitted to  do  so ;  but  he  was  completely  resigned  to  the 
will  of  God,  whatever  that  might  be.  On  Sabbath  morn- 
ing, March  20,  1887,  he  was  told  that  he  was  dying.  x\t 
10:40  a.m.  he  tranquilly  breathed  his  last,  and  passed 
into  his  heavenly  home  and  into  the  Sabbath-keeping  that 
remaineth  for  the  people  of  God. 

His  Wife's  Devotion.  It  was  beautifully  fitting  that 
so  home-loving  a  man  as  was  Professor  Lamar  should 
have  had  so  devoted  and  successful  a  home-maker  as  his 
companion  during  the  last  and  most  strenuous  period  of 
his  life.  For  nearly  thirteen  years  Mrs.  Lamar  sought  in 
his  days  of  health  and  in  those  of  his  illness  to  surround 
him  with  the  gracious  influences  of  home  life.    She  found 


84  Thomas  Jefferson  Lamar 

her  joy  in  identifying  herself  with  his  interests  in  order 
to  help  share  his  burdens  and  win  his  successes.  She  was 
faithful  unto  his  death,  and  had  the  happiness  of  hearing 
his  appreciation  of  her  faithfulness  expressed  in  almost 
his  last  words.  Said  he:  "I  have  the  best  nurse  in  the 
world."  And,  as  he  saw  her  struggle  with  her  emotions, 
he  said :  ''Weep,  it  will  relieve  you."  Over  his  grave  in 
the  tranquil  college  woodland  she  erected  an  appropriate 
monument  with  this  inscription:  "In  loving  remembrance 
of  Rev.  Thomas  J.  Lamar.  Born,  Nov.  21,  1826.  Died, 
March  20,  1887.  For  thirty  years  a  Professor  in  Mary- 
ville  College,  his  most  enduring  monument."  In  honor  of 
Ralph  Max  she  also  erected,  in  1910,  the  beautiful  and, 
since  then,  indispensable  "Ralph  Max  Lamar  Memorial 
Hospital,"  which  is  a  benediction  indeed  to  the  many 
students  who  every  year  have  a  share  in  the  advantages 
afforded  by  it.  And  now,  thirty-three  years  after  his 
demise,  his  widow  is  publishing  this  biographical  sketch, 
lest  the  later  generations  of  Maryville  College  people 
should  forget  the  manner  of  man  it  was  who  rebuilt  for 
them  the  College  which  they  now  see  in  its  strength  and 
helpfulness. 


CHAPTER  X 

A  Typical  Maryville  Man 

We  have  passed  in  review  the  Ufe  and  services  of  a 
good  man.  Before  we  conclude  our  sketch,  it  is  fitting 
that  there  should  be  a  brief  summing  up  of  the  more 
salient  qualities  that  made  him  a  man  who  will  be  remem- 
bered among  us  so  long  as  Maryville  College  shall  endure. 
And  this  is  especially  fitting  since  he  is  revealed  by  his 
life  and  labors  to  have  been  a  typical  Maryville  College 
man.  His  life  is  at  once  a  norm  and  an  ideal  to  those 
who  continue  his  labors,  whether  as  directors,  teachers, 
or  students  of  the  old  College. 

A  Builder  of  Maryville  Men.  He  devoted  half  his 
lifetime  to  the  building  of  character  in  the  students  that 
were  under  his  influence  at  Maryville  College.  It  was 
Christian  character  that  above  all  else  he  sought  to  make 
dominant  in  the  life  of  every  student.  He  wrought  tire- 
lessly to  build  each  one  up  in  substantial  and  worthy 
scholarship;  but  his  chief  endeavor  was  to  fashion  him 
into  a  temple  for  the  holy  uses  of  his  God.  This  kind  of 
work  was,  in  his  view,  the  high  calling  of  God  in  Christ 
Jesus  that  had  come  to  the  members  of  the  faculty  of  the 
College.  And  his  students  all  bore  testimony  to  his  faith- 
fulness in  this  work,  and  were  prompt  to  give  him  credit 
for  much  good  that  had  entered  their  hearts  during  those 
character-forming  days  that  they  spent  at  the  College.  A 
letter  from  a  member  of  Maryville's  Class  of  1873  tells 
how  an  interview  that  Professor  Lamar  had  with  him 
when  yet  a  preparatory  student  bore  fruit  six  years  later 


86  Thomas  Je:fferson  Lamar 

in  leading  him  into  the  Christian  ministry.     Scores  of 
others  could  tell  a  similar  story. 

An  Embodiment  of  the  Maryville  Spirit.  The  ex- 
planation of  Professor  Lamar's  eminent  success  in  the 
making  of  Maryville  men  was  to  be  found  in  the  fact  that 
he  was  himself  a  living  embodiment  of  the  qualities  that 
constitute  the  Maryville  spirit.  Under  the  tutelage  of 
pastors  who  had  been  educated  under  Dr.  Isaac  Ander- 
son, and  then,  under  the  tutelage  of  Dr.  Anderson  him- 
self and  the  doctor's  colleagues,  during  his  college  course 
and  part  of  his  theological  course,  his  disposition — itself 
unselfish  and  benevolent — responded  heartily  to  the  train- 
ing received,  and  he  went  out  into  life  to  exemplify  the 
spirit  of  his  alma  mater.  And  his  students  could  readily 
understand  his  teachings  since  their  feasibility  and  attract- 
iveness were  visibly  and  tangibly  illustrated  before  them 
in  the  daily  life  of  their  teacher.  By  their  fruits  ye  shall 
know  both  men  and  ideals. 

In  "Breadth  of  Human  Interest."  A  striking  char- 
acteristic of  the  spirit  of  Maryville  has  ever  been  a  re- 
markable breadth  of  human  interest.  This  was  the  spirit 
of  Terence  who  said  that  since  he  was  a  man  everything 
human  concerned  him ;  but  preeminently  was  it  the  spirit 
of  the  great  Teacher  of  Maryville  men  who  said :  "In- 
asmuch as  ye  have  done  it  unto  one  of  the  least  of  these 
my  brethren,  ye  have  done  it  unto  me."  Mr.  Lamar  esti- 
mated man  by  the  ransom  that  had  been  paid  by  Heaven 
for  him,  and  he  sought  the  welfare  of  every  brother  man 
as  of  a  brother  redeemed  by  the  same  Lord.  By  his  mar- 
riage in  1855  he  became  the  owner  of  a  slave,  but  then 
and  throughout  his  life  he  exhibited  the  utmost  interest 


A  Typical  MaryvillK  Man  87 

in  the  welfare  of  the  colored  people.     His  spirit,  even  in 
the  trying  days  of  war  and  turmoil,  was  one  ''with  malice 
towards  none,  with  charity  for  all."     He  began  his  own 
ministry  on  what  was  then  home  missionary  territory,  and 
his  joy  ever  was  to  help  contribute  Christian  workers 
for  destitute  fields  throughout  the  Southwest  and  West, 
and,  indeed,  throughout  our  entire  country.     A  foreign 
missionary  in  spirit,  he  rejoiced  to  see  a  strong  tide  of 
Maryville  men  and  women  set  toward  the  foreign  mission 
fields.    Between  the  years  of  1877  and  1887,  the  last  ten 
years  of  his  service  at  Maryville,  fourteen  of  his  students 
became  missionaries  and  represented  him  in  China,  Japan, 
India,  Korea,  Persia,  Syria,  Africa,  and  Mexico.    It  was 
one  of  these  missionaries,   Rev.  Thomas  Theron  Alex- 
ander, D.D.,  who,  while  home  on  a  furlough,  in   1888, 
delivered  the  address— a  biographical  sketch  and  appre- 
ciation  of    Professor   Lamar— at   the   dedication   of    the 
Lamar   Memorial    Library.      And,    of    course,    the   pro- 
fessor's heart  was  devoted  to  the  development  of  Chris- 
tian education  and  the  provision  of  church  privileges  in 
the  Southern  Appalachian  region,  for  whose  service  the 
College  had  been  founded  in  1819  by  Dr.  Anderson.    He 
had  a  large  share  in  the  extraordinary  development  of 
church  academies  in  county  seats  throughout  the  Southern 
mountains  during  the  years  following  1881.    The  work  of 
these  academies  was  epoch-making ;  the  church  had  never 
done  a  more  statesmanlike  piece  of  work  or  one  that 
rendered  a  greater  patriotic  and  religious  service  to  the 
mountaineers.     These  church  academies  had  much  to  do 
with  the  revival  of  interest  in  education  that  has  led  the 
States  to  take  up  and  carrj  forward  the  high  school  work 
in  the  counties.     Professor  Lamar's  breadth  of  human 


88  Thomas  Jkfferson  Lamar 

interest  led  him  as  early  as  1867  to  throw  open  the 
College  for  the  entrance  of  young  women  on  the  same 
conditions  as  were  enjoyed  by  the  young  men. 

In  ''Thorough  Scholarship."  Mr.  Lamar  was  looked 
upon  by  some  as  being  the  best  educated  of  Maryville's 
graduates  before  the  Civil  War.  His  scholarship  was 
very  accurate  and  thorough.  His  insight  into  his  studies 
was  keen  and  quick.  In  spite  of  his  limited  resources 
he  succeeded  in  collecting  what  was  for  the  day  a  valu- 
able library,  in  which  he  greatly  enjoyed  delving.  His 
students  never  caught  him  unprepared,  and  they  had 
confidence  that  his  class-room  decisions  were  based  on 
research  and  sound  scholarship.  During  his  long  connec- 
tion with  the  College,  the  exigencies  of  the  case  required 
him  to  teach  at  different  times  almost  every  study  in  the 
curriculum,  and  he  did  so  with  striking  ability  and  versa- 
tility ;  but,  when  it  became  possible  to  do  so,  he  confined 
his  work  to  the  chair  of  the  Greek  Language  and  Liter- 
ature, in  which  department  his  scholarship  was  especially 
strong.  However,  his  scholarship  was  also  strong  in  the 
use  of  his  mother  tongue.  He  composed  rapidly  and  with 
clearness  and  force,  seldom  having  occasion  to  alter  the 
phraseology  first  chosen.  Indeed,  he  was  thorough  in 
everything.  He  practiced  his  own  advice  to  his  students : 
"You  are  students.  Strive  to  go  to  the  bottom  of  every 
subject.  Never  tolerate  in  yourselves  superficial  study 
and  partial  investigation." 

In  "Manly  Religion."  This  story  of  this  life  should, 
indeed,  have  been  written  in  vain  should  not  the  impres- 
sion have  already  been  strongly  made  that  the  man  whose 
story  is  here  recounted  was  one  whose  life  was  permeated 


A  TypicaIv  Maryvili.^  Man  89 

through  and  through  with  the  principles  of  a  valorous 
and  manly  religion.  There  was  in  him  nothing  soft  or 
invertebrate ;  his  religion  made  a  stalwart  hero  of  him ; 
and  manly  men  saw  and  admired  his  manliness  and  heroic 
courage.  Said  one  who  met  him  often  during  his  endow- 
ment campaign:  "You  know  with  what  self-abnegation 
he  went  back  to  the  impoverished  College  after  the  war, 
and  with  what  heroic  patience  he  stood  by  it,  like  a  pilot 
at  the  wheel  of  the  ship  while  it  was  slowly  moving 
through  fog  and  among  icebergs.  I  know  of  no  finer 
example  of  Christ-like  unselfishness  or  of  Christian  wis- 
dom and  manliness  among  all  my  acquaintance  than  was 
Professor  Lamar."  He  learned  from  the  Man  of  Galilee 
those  heroic  qualities  that  made  him  the  Galilean's  worthy 
disciple  in  such  days  of  stress  as  tried  men's  souls. 

And  in  "Unselfish  Service."  He  had  learned  lessons 
of  unselfishness  from  the  saintly  Anderson;  the  College 
practiced  that  grace  in  caring  for  its  students ;  and  the 
very  genius  loci  seemed  to  be  that  same  beautiful  Chris- 
tian grace  of  unselfishness.  And  an  embodiment  of  it 
was  he  as  he  also  went  about  doing  good,  at  the  expense 
of  great  self-denials.  His  personal  preferences,  wishes, 
comforts,  and  happiness  he  relentlessly  pushed  aside  in 
order  to  take  up  the  duty  of  service  to  the  College  and 
thus  to  the  church  and  the  country.  'Xet  him  take  up 
his  cross  and  follow  me,"  was  to  him  no  meaningless 
phrasing,  but  it  was  Christ's  challenge  to  altruistic  serv- 
ice ;  and  so  he  took  up  his  cross  and  followed  him.  In 
counseling  the  Class  of  1877  at  their  graduation  he  said: 
"God  calls  you  to  devote  yourselves  to  his  cause ;  to  give 
yourselves  to  a  life  of  usefulness;  to  labor  to  advance  the 


Qo  Thomas  Ji:fFERSON  Lamar 

great  principles  of  truth  and  righteousness ;  to  be  the 
patrons  and  friends  of  whatever  will  elevate  the  race ;  to 
give  back  to  him  in  his  service  the  result,  the  fruit  of  the 
talent,  learning,  and  influence  he  has  conferred  upon  you. 
Wherever  he  may  send  you,  to  whatever  task  he  may 
assign  you,  stand  at  the  post  of  duty,  and  let  neither  fear 
nor  favor  drive  you  therefrom.  All  the  gifts  God  has 
given  you,  devote  honestly  and  faithfully  to  the  great 
ends  for  which  they  were  given." 

Thus  in  his  breadth  of  human  interest,  thorough 
scholarship,  manly  religion^  and  unselfish  service  did  Pro- 
fessor Lamar,  throughout  his  career,  manifest  and  com- 
mend the  Maryville  spirit  that  has  now  for  more  than  a 
century  been  the  chief  glory  of  our  College.  And  thus 
he  blended  precept  and  example  according  to  the  best 
pedagogical  principles. 

A  Gentle  Man.  Few  men  were  more  gentle  by  na- 
ture than  was  Professor  Lamar.  Retiring  and  modest 
and  timid,  he  avoided  prominence  and  disliked  notoriety. 
These  traits  made  him  somewhat  uncommunicative  with 
regard  to  his  feelings  and  his  inner  life.  But  coupled 
with  this  retiring  disposition  was  the  utmost  kindliness 
and  gentleness  in  his  relations  with  others.  It  took  a 
great  deal  of  provocation  to  arouse  his  spirit.  In  debates 
in  presbytery  and  synod  it  was  frequently  his  pleasure 
to  pour  oil  on  troubled  waters.  However,  gentleness  is 
often  coupled  with  great  power,  and  it  was  so  in  his  case, 
though  the  stranger  sometimes  did  not  recognize  such  a 
combination  in  him.  The  writer  recalls  distinctly  that 
when  he  was  in  Lane  Seminary  at  Cincinnati,  Mr,  Lamar 
visited  the  institution,  in  October,  1881,  and  that  some  of 


A  Typical  Maryville  Man  91 

the  students  were  surprised  when  the  Maryville  boys  told 
them  that  in  that  quiet  man  dwelt  the  Nestor  of  East 
Tennessee  Presbyterianism  and  the  rebuilder  of  Mary- 
ville College.  As  was  to  be  expected,  this  gentle  man  was 
also  in  every  respect  a  gentleman.  Of  course,  he  was  a 
man  of  unimpeachable  probity,  spotless  record,  and  irre- 
proachable life;  but,  also,  more  positively,  he  always 
carried  with  him  those  "high  erected  thoughts  seated  in 
a  heart  of  courtesy,"  that  marked  him,  wherever  he  was, 
as  a  member  of  the  worthy  brotherhood  of  Christian 
gentleman. 

A  Man  of  God.     There  is  a  peculiar  dignity  and  sig- 
nificance in  the  phrase,  "a  man  of  God."     It  carries  us 
back  to  Bible  times  and  to  such  Bible  characters  as  Moses, 
Elijah,  and  Elisha,  and  Paul's  young  ministerial  friend, 
Timothy.     But  it  also  seems  to  be  markedly  appropriate 
and  applicable  to  such  a  man  as  the  one  whose  life  we 
have  been  reviewing.    "He  was  a  good  man,  and  full  of 
the  Holy  Ghost  and  of  faith."     A  godly  man  and  God's 
man — his  life  proved  him  both  ;  and  with  unwavering  con- 
fidence in  God's  wisdom  and  love  and  power,  he  sought 
to  conform  his  will  to  God's  will.     He  counseled  an  old 
student :    "The  ways  and  rulings  of  our  heavenly  Father 
are  strange  and  inexplicable.     We  are  often  left  in  the 
dark,  and  can  do  nothing  more  than  await  and  sufifer  his 
will.     Work  and  duty  are  ours.     Much  else  belongs  to 
God  exclusively."     He  was  ever  a  humble  and  obedient 
man  of  God. 

A  Friend  of  Men.  Every  student  of  his  found  in  his 
teacher  a  sincere  and  personal  friend.  To  him  he  carried 
with  perfect  freedom  his  troubles,  and  he  always  went 


92  Thomas  Jeffe^rson  Lamar 

back  to  his  room  helped  in  some  way.  Countless  hours 
did  the  professor  spend  in  fatherly  and  intimate  conver- 
sation with  his  students  regarding  their  immediate  prob- 
lems and  often  regarding  the  use  they  should  make  of 
their  life.  His  most  effective  work,  perhaps,  was  done 
in  such  friendly  interviews.  Dr.  Alexander  quotes  one 
former  student  as  saying  in  recognition  of  many  such 
personal  interviews:  "I  should  rather  do  something  to 
perpetuate  the  memory  of  Professor  Lamar  than  any- 
thing else  in  the  world.  He  was  a  tender,  loving  father 
to  me  when  I  was  in  school.  He  knew  more  about  me 
than  did  any  one  else.  Many  were  the  kind  counsels  he 
gave  me  in  his  room.  He  did  more  to  establish  religious 
principles  in  me  than  did  any  other  one."  "Many  a  poor 
student  received  substantial  aid  from  him."  The  first 
post-bellum  graduate  of  the  College  paid  him  this  tribute 
in  an  address  before  the  Alumni  Association:  ''Of  these 
four  (teachers),  Professor  Lamar  seemed  closest  to  me. 
Not  that  he  was  a  better  instructor,  for  he  was  not ; 
but  he  was  so  gentle,  so  patient,  so  liberal  in  dealing 
with  my  wild,  wayward  nature,  that  I  instinctively  loved 
him.  May  the  sod  under  which  he  sleeps  rest  lightly  on 
his  remains!"  And  the  friendliness  that  he  manifested 
toward  his  students,  his  heart  felt  also  for  others.  For 
example,  he  even  found  time  to  intercede  with  those  that 
were  able  to  give,  to  lend  assistance  to  those  who,  in  the 
academies  of  the  mountains,  were  seeking  an  education ; 
and  thus  he  was  able  by  proxy  to  help  many  young 
people,  even  beyond  Maryville's  own  student  body. 

Honored  of  Men.      From  the  time  of  the  reorgani- 
zation of  the  Synod  in  1865  and  the  reopening  of  Mary- 


The  Lamar  Memorials— Hospital  and  Library. 


A  TypicaIv  MARYVII.I.E  Man  93 

ville  College  in  1866,  Mr.  Lamar  was  generally  recognized 
at  home  and  abroad  as  the  leader  of  his  denomination 
in  East  Tennessee.  He  was  made  Stated  Clerk  of  the 
Synod.  His  study  was,  indeed,  a  council-chamber  for  his 
brethren  throughout  the  section,  and  no  narrow  councils 
prevailed  there.  The  personal  regard  in  which  he  was 
held  was  manifested,  besides  in  other  ways,  by  the  naming 
of  scores  of  children  for  him.  Even  as  late  as  1900,  the 
writer  of  this  sketch  named  his  youngest  son,  ''Lamar." 
Wooster  University,  in  1884,  conferred  upon  Professor 
Lamar  the  honorary  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity;  and 
all  except  himself  called  it  a  well-deserved  honor;  he  in 
his  modesty  declined  it  as  ''not  worthy  of  it."  He  was 
honored  while  living,  and  his  memory  has  been  honored 
since  his  death. 

The  year  following  his  decease  the  beautiful  and  very 
useful  Lamar  Memorial  Library  was  erected  on  the 
campus  by  Mr.  Thaw,  Mrs.  William  E.  Dodge,  and  Mrs. 
Sylvester  Willard.  Mr.  Thaw,  whose  affection  for  Pro- 
fessor Lamar  was  very  sincere,  led  in  planning  and 
providing  for  this  appropriate  memorial.  Mrs.  Lamar 
contributed  the  private  library  that  the  professor  had  left ; 
while  the  brothers  and  sisters  of  the  professor  provided 
a  rare  and  artistic  memorial  window  in  which,  after 
Diirer's  picture,  the  Resurrection  is  beautifully  depicted. 
This  attractive  building  honored  the  memory  of  Professor 
Lamar  in  the  way  that  would  have  been  most  grateful 
to  him — by  rendering  a  large  and  daily  service  to  the 
students  of  the  institution. 

At  the  funeral  of  Professor  Lamar  on  Tuesday  fore- 
noon, March  22,  1887,  the  old  chapel  was  filled  to  its 
fullest  capacity  with  sorrowing  friends,  who  had  gathered 


94  Thomas  Jkfferson  Lamar 

from  all  over  Blount  county  and  even  over  East  Ten- 
nessee. The  business  houses  of  Maryville  were  closed 
during  the  service.  Addresses  were  delivered  by  Rev. 
Donald  McDonald,  pastor  of  New  Providence  Church, 
and  the  members  of  the  faculty.  At  the  close  of  the 
service,  a  procession  reaching  across  the  campus  accom- 
panied the  remains  to  the  peaceful  college  cemetery, 
where  they  were  to  find  their  resting  place  until  the  resur- 
rection. Beautiful  and  appropriate  exercises  were  held  at 
the  grave.  A  profound  sense  of  the  fact  that  a  prince  in 
Israel  was  being  laid  to  rest  pervaded  all  the  obsequies. 
No  such  funeral  had  been  held  in  Maryville  since  1857, 
when  Dr.  Anderson's  body  was  interred  in  the  old  church 
cemetery  on  Main  Street.  Parishioners  from  several 
country  churches  which  the  professor  had  served  during 
his  thirty  years  at  Maryville  added  their  tearful  tribute  to 
the  beloved  pastor  who  had  married  hundreds  of  them, 
baptized  their  children,  received  them  into  the  church,  and 
buried  their  dead.  His  college  colleagues  spoke  of  the 
history  their  senior  professor  had  written  with  tears  that 
others  might  read  it  with  joy.  The  untold  difficulties, 
unrecorded  heartaches,  and  undreamed-of  sacrifices  that 
he  had  endured,  they  knew,  were  written  in  God's  book 
of  remembrance. 

The  students  in  their  resolutions  regarding  his  death 
emphasized  especially  **his  eminently  useful  and  exem- 
plary life — a  life  that  was  a  prominent  factor  in  making 
the  institution  what  it  is,  and  in  giving  it  character 
abroad."  The  faculty  resolutions  are  full  of  appreciation 
and  sorrow,  as  the  following  brief  excerpt  indicates: 
''From  the  time  when,  at  the  call  of  his  alma  mater,  he 
returned  from  the  West  to  teach  in  her  halls,  he  devoted 


A  Typicai,  MaryviIvIwE  Man  95 

his  soul  and  body  and  his  time  and  talents  to  the  welfare 
of  College  and  students.  When  the  institution  reopened 
after  the  war,  he  was  its  entire  faculty ;  and  ever  since 
has,  very  naturally,  been  regarded  as  the  center  of  all  the 
activities  of  the  College,  and  to  him  faculty  and  students 
have  turned  as  to  a  father.  His  inestimable  services  in 
the  resuscitation  and  equipment  of  the  institution,  and  his 
herculean  labors  in  providing  its  endowment  are  at  once 
our  cherished  pride  and,  as  they  remind  us  of  our  loss, 
our  sad  heritage."  The  directors  reviewed  the  thrilling 
story  of  his  services  to  the  College,  culminating  in  the 
securing  of  the  endowment  fund;  and  they  closed  their 
tribute  with  the  words:  "By  his  death  the  College  lost  its 
greatest  friend,  the  Board  its  wisest  counselor,  and  the 
entire  community  one  of  the  best  and  most  influential 
citizens." 

Honored  of  Heaven.  Before  his  death  Professor 
Lamar  had  the  deep  satisfaction  of  witnessing  the  ap- 
proval and  benediction  of  God  rest  richly  upon  his  labors 
for  the  causes  he  loved.  He  saw  the  College  rise  out  of 
its  ruins  and  enter  a  new  home  on  the  Eastern  hills,  and 
go  on  developing  until  it  had  a  teaching  force  of  eleven, 
a  student  body  of  two  hundred  and  fifty,  and  an  endow- 
ment of  $113,000.  Only  the  approval  of  God  upon  his 
efforts  could  have  wrought  such  a  miracle.  And  in 
another  way  that  gave  him  even  greater  satisfaction  could 
he  recognize  the  evidences  of  God's  approval,  and  that 
was  in  the  manifest  blessing  of  God  that  was  granted  his 
efforts  to  lead  the  young  people  into  the  service  of  the 
church  of  Christ  throughout  the  world.  From  his  home 
on  College  Hill  he  could  look  abroad  over  his  beloved 


96  Thomas  Jefi^erson  Lamar 

East  Tennessee,  and  over  the  entire  nation,  and  even 
beyond  to  the  ends  of  the  earth,  and  everywhere  see  his 
proxies — his  former  students — sent  out  after  long  train- 
ing and  earnest  prayer,  laboring  for  the  establishment  of 
happiness,  character,  and  usefulness  among  the  children 
of  men.  Compared  with  such  transcendent  honors  con- 
ferred by  heaven's  Immortal  King,  how  insignificant  are 
the  insignia  of  honor  and  the  decorations  of  rank  con- 
ferred by  human  governments !  In  Thomas  Jefiferson 
Lamar  was  richly  verified  the  promise  of  God,  "Them 
that  honor  me,  I  will  honor." 


